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Sunday-dosing law See BLUE LAW.

sundries (san-dreez). Miscellaneous items that may be considered together, without being separately specified or identified.

sundry (san-dree), adj. Separate; diverse; various. snnk cost. See COST (1).

sunk cost A cost that has already been incurred and that cannot be recovered.

sunna See FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.

sunset law A statute under which a governmental agency or program automatically terminates at the end of a fixed period unless it is formally renewed.

sunset legislation See SUNSET LAW.

sunshine committee An official or quasi-official committee whose proceedings and work are open to public access.

sunshine law A statute requiring a governmental department or agency to open its meetings or its records to public access. - Also termed open-meeting law; public-meeting law; open-door law.

suo nomine (s[y]oo-oh nom-a-nee). [Latin] In ones own name.

suo periculo See SUB SUO PERICULO.

SUP abbr. SPECIAL-USE PERMIT.

sup. ct abbr. SUPREME COURT.

super (s[y]oo-par). [Latin] Above; over; higher.

super aliquam partemfundi (s[y]oo-par al-i-kwam pahr-tem fan-di). [Law Latin]. Upon any part of the land.

super altum mare (s[y]oo-par ai-tam mair-ee or mahr¬ee). [Latin] On the high sea.

super attentatis aut innovatis lite dependente (s[y] oo-par a-ten-tay-tis awt in-a-vay-tis li-tee dee-pen¬den-tee). [Law Latin]. . Concerning those things allegedly due during the pendency of the case.

super eisdem deductis (s[y]oo-par ee-is-dam di-dak-tis). [Law Latin]. Upon the same grounds.

super jure naturae alendi liberos (s[y]oo-par joor-ee na-tyoor-ee a-len-di-lib-ar-ohs). [Law Latin]. On the ground of natural law, obligating persons to support their children.

super praerogativa regis (s[y]oo-par pri-rog-a-ti-va ree-jis), n. [Law Latin]. A writ against the kings tenants widow for marrying without royal permission.

super stare decisis The theory that courts must follow earlier court decisions without considering whether those decisions were correct. Critics argue that strict adherence to old decisions can result in grave injustices and cite as an example the repudiation of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S.Ct. 1138 (1896) by Brown v. Board ofEdueation, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686 (1954).

super stare decisis See STARE DECISIS.

super statuto (s[y]oo-par sta-t[y]oo-toh), n. [Law Latin]. A writ against tenants-in-chief who transferred their land without the kings permission in violation of the Statute of Westminster II, chs. 12 & 13.

super statuto dearticulis deri (s[y]oo-par sta-t[y]oo-toh dee ahr-tik-ya-lis kleer-i), n. [Law Latin] Hist. A writ against a sheriff who unlawfully distrains goods.

super statuto Jacto pour seneschal et marshal de roy (s[y]oo-par sta-t[y]oo-toh fak-toh poor sen-a-shahl ay mahr-[a-shahl da roy), n. [Law Latin]. A writ to restrain the court of the Marshalsea from interfering in matters outside its jurisdiction.

super statuto versus servantes et laboratores (s[y]oo-par sta-t[y]oo-toh var-sas sar-van-teez et lab-ar-a-tor-eez), n. [Law Latin]. 1. A writ against someone who eemploys laborers who unlawfully left former employments. 2. A writ against a person who refused to work at the required wage.

supercargo A person specially employed and authorized by a cargo owner to sell cargo that has been shipped and to purchase returning cargo, at the best possible prices; the commercial or foreign agent of a merchant. "Supercargoes are persons employed by commercial companies or by private merchants to take charge of the cargoes they export to foreign countries, to sell them there to the best advantage, and to purchase proper commodities to relade the ships on their return home. They usually go out with the ships on board of which the goods are embarked, and return home with them, and in this they differ from factors who live abroad .... The supercargo is the agent of the owners, and disposes of the cargo and makes purchases under their general instructions on his own responsibility." 70 Am.Jut. 2d Shipping§ 886, at 1025 (1987).

superductio (s[yloo-par-dak-shee-oh), n. [Latin] Roman law. The obliteration of part ofa will or other document by writing over something erased within it. PI. superductiones (s[y]oo-par-dak-shee-oh-neez).

superfeudation See SUPERINFEUDATION.

superficiarius (s[y]oo-par-fish-ee-air-ee-as), n. [Latin] Roman law. A person who had a hereditary and alienable right to a building on municipal or other public land, subject to the payment of an annual rent. In classical law this right was extended to private land. Cf. EMPHYTEUSIS.

superficies (s[y]oo-par-fish-ee-eez or -fish-eez), n. [Latin "surface"] Roman &- civil law. 1. The surface of the ground. 2. An improvement that stands on the surface of the ground, such as a building, other construction, trees, plants, or crops. 3. The right of a superficiarius. See SUPERFICIARIUS.

Superfund 1. The program that funds and administers the cleanup of hazardous-waste sites through a trust fund (financed by taxes on petroleum and chemicals and a tax on certain corporations) created to pay for cleanup pending reimbursement from the liable parties. 2. The popular name for the act that established this program - the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). See CERCLA.

superinfeudation The granting of one or more feuds out of a feudal estate. Also termed superfeudation. Cf. SUBrNFEUDATION. "Whatever may be the proper view of its origin and legal nature, the best mode of vividly picturing to ourselves the feudal organisation is to begin with the baSiS, to consider the relation of the tenant to the patch of soil which created and limited his services and then to mount up, through narrowing circles of super-feudation, till we approximate to the apex of the system." Henry S. Maine, Ancient Law 88 (17th ed. 1901).

superinstitution The investiture of one person in an office that already has an incumbent, as when two individuals claim a benefice by adverse titles.

superintendent A person with the power to direct activities; a manager.

superintending control See CONTROL.

superintending control The general supervisory control that a higher court in a jurisdiction has over the administrative affairs of a lower court within that jurisdiction.

superior adj. (Of a rank, office, power, etc.) higher; elevated: possessing greater power or authority; entitled to exert authority or command over another <superior estate> <superior force> <superior agent>. - superior, n.

superior agent See high-managerial agent.

superior agent See high-managerial agent under AGENT (2).

superior commissioned officer See OFFICER (2).

superior commissioned officer A commissioned officer who is superior in command or rank.

superior court 1. In some states, a trial court of general jurisdiction. 2. In Pennsylvania, an intermediate court between the trial court and the chief appellate court.

superior court See COURT.

superior fellow servant See FELLOW SERVANT.

superior fellow servant A worker that has the power of control or direction over a coworker. Also termed superior servant.

superior force 1. See FORCE MAJEURE. 2. See ACT OF GOD. 3. See VIS MAJOR.

superior knowledge See KNOWLEDGE.

superior knowledge Knowledge greater than that of another person, esp. so as to adversely affect that person <in its fraud claim, the subcontractor alleged that the general contractor had superior knowledge of the equipment shortage>. 2. Archaic. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE.

superior servant See superior fellow servant under FELLOW SERVANT.

superior-knowledge rule The doctrine that when a property owner knows or should know that a hazardous condition exists on the property, and the condition is not obvious to a person exercising reasonable care, the owner must make the premises reasonably safe or else warn others of the hazardous condition. An exception to the rule is sometimes allowed for obvious dangers or dangers of which the invitee is aware. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 343A. But the exception is neither automatic nor absolute. See id. § 343A(1) & cmt. f. Also termed equal-or-superiorknowledge rule. Cf. EQUAL-KNOWLEDGE RULE.

superior-servant doctrine See FELLOW-SERVANT RULE.

superjurare (s[y]oo-par-juu-rair-ee). [Latin "to overswear"]. To swear too strenuously. This describes the situation in which an obviously guilty criminal attempted to avoid conviction by producing oaths of several parties but was convicted by an overwhelming number of witnesses.

superlien A governments lien that is imposed on a property whose condition violates environmental and public-health and public-safety rules and that has priority over all other liens, so that the government can recover public funds spent on cleanup operations. A statutory lien is superior to all existing liens and all later-filed liens on the same property. Superliens are sometimes granted to a states environmental-protection agency. Several states - including Arkansas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Tennessee have enacted statutes creating superliens on property owned by a party responsible for environmental cleanup. See LIEN.

supermajority See MAJORITY.

supermajority provision A clause in a corporations articles of incorporation requiring more than a simple majority of shareholders to vote in favor of a merger or substantial sale of assets.

supernumerarii (s[y]oo-par-n[y]oo-ma-rair-ee-i), n. [Latin "persons above the number"] Roman law. Officials beyond the permitted number; esp., advocates who were unregistered and not attached to a particular bar. Cf. STATUTI.

supernumerary witness See WITNESS.

superoneratio (sly]oo-par-on-a-ray-shee-oh). [Law Latin]. 1. The act or practice of surcharging a common. 2. The placement of more cattle on a common than is allowed; overstocking.

superoneratione pasturae See DE SUPERONERATIONE PASTURAE.

superplusagium (s[y]oo-par-pla-say-jee-am), n. [Law Latin]. A surplus; a remainder.

superprecedent 1. A precedent that defines the law and its requirements so effectively that it prevents divergent holdings in later legal decisions on similar facts or induces disputants to settle their claims without litigation. This sense was posited by W. Landes and Richard Posner in Legal Precedent: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, 191. Law & Econ. 249, 251 (1976). 2. A precedent that has become so established in the law by a long line of reaffirmations that it is very difficult to overturn it; specif., a precedent that has been reaffirmed many times and whose rationale has been extended to cover cases in which the facts are dissimilar, even wholly unrelated, to those of the precedent. For example, Roe v. Wade has been called a superprecedent because it has survived more than three dozen attempts to overturn it and has been relied on in decisions protecting gay rights and the right to die. Cf. super stare decisis under STARE DECISIS. 3. DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT. 4. A form of pleading or property-conveyancing instrument. Precedents are often compiled in book form and used by lawyers as guides for preparing similar documents. "Collections of Precedents have existed from very early times. In this connection precedents must not be confused with judicial precedents or case law. We refer here simply to common-form instruments compiled for use in practice, whereby the lawyer can be more or less certain that he is using the correct phraseology for the particular case before him. They were used both in conveyancing and liti gation.... It is interesting to note that these precedents were apparently among the first legal works to be published after printing was introduced. Collections of conveyancing precedents continued to be brought up to date or new volumes issued ...." A.K.R. Kiralfy, Potter s Outlines of English Legal History 42-43 (5th ed. 1958).

superprecedent See PRECEDENT.

superpriority The special priority status granted by the court to a creditor for extending credit to a debtor or trustee that cannot obtain unsecured credit from a willing lender. This priority may be either an administrative claim outranking other administrative claims or, if certain statutory requirements are met, a security interest in property. 11 USCA § 364(c) (1).

supersede 1. To annul, make void, or repeal by taking the place of <the 1996 statute supersedes the 1989 act>. 2. To invoke or make applicable the right of supersedeas against (an award of damages) <what is the amount of the bond necessary to supersede the judgment against her?>. - supersession (for sense 1), n.

supersedeas (soo-par-seed-ee-as), n. [Latin "you shall desist"]. 1. A writ or bond that suspends a judgment creditors power to levy execution, usu. pending appeal. Also termed writ of supersedeas. 2. See supersedeas bond under BOND (2). PI. supersedeases (soo-par-see-dee-as-iz).

supersedeas bond See BOND (2).

supersedeas bond (soo-par-see-dee-as). An appel-lant's bond to stay execution on a judgment during the pendency of the appeal. Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(d); Fed. R. App. P. 8(b). Often shortened to supersedeas. See SUPERSEDE (2). Cf. appeal bond.

supersedere (s[y]oo-par-sa-deer-ee). [Law Latin]. SIST. "When creditors voluntarily agree to supersede or sist diligence against their debtor for a certain period, such an agreement is called a supersedere; and the same name is given to any judicial act by which creditors are restrained from doing diligence. A creditor who commits a breach of the supersedere, whether it be voluntary or judicial, is liable to the debtor in damages." John Trayner, Trayners Latin Maxims 591 (4th ed. 1894).

superseding cause An intervening act or force that the law considers sufficient to override the cause for which the original tortfeasor was responsible, thereby exonerating that tortfeasor from liability. Also termed sole cause. Cf intervening cause.

superseding cause See CAUSE (1).

superstitious use See USE (1).

supervening cause See intervening cause.

supervening cause See intervening cause under CAUSE (1).

supervening impossibility Impossibility arising after the formation of a contract but before the time when the promisor's performance is due, and arising because of facts that the promisor had no reason to anticipate and did not contribute to the occurrence of. "Contracting parties constantly take a voluntary risk, and it would make the whole basis of contract insecure if they were allowed to plead every and any kind of supervening impossibility. Moreover, a man need not undertake this kind of risk unless he chooses. He can deliberately exclude it by stipulations in his contract, if the other party is willing to contract with him on those terms." 2 Stephen's Commentaries on the Laws of England 82-83 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).

supervening impossibility See IMPOSSIBILITY.

supervening negligence See subsequent negligence under NEGLIGENCE.

supervening-negligence doctrine See LAST-CLEARCHANCE DOCTRINE.

supervised visitation See VISITATION.

supervision The act of managing, directing, or overseeing persons or projects. - supervise, vb. supervisory (soo-par-vi-za-ree), adj.

supervision order See ORDER (2).

supervision order A court s order placing a child or young person under the supervision of a child-welfare agency or a probation officer in a case of neglect, abuse, or delinquency.

supervisor 1. One having authority over others; a manager or overseer. Under the National Labor Relations Act, a supervisor is any individual having authority to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, promote, discharge, discipline, and handle grievances of other employees, by exercising independent judgment. 2. The chief administrative officer of a town or county. supervisorial (soo-par¬vi-zar-ee-al), adj.

supervisory authority Military law. An officer who, exercising general court-martial jurisdiction, reviews summary and special court-martial trial records after the convening authority has reviewed them.

supervisory authority See SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY. 2. Governmental power or jurisdiction <within the court's authority>. 3. A governmental agency or corporation that administers a public enterprise <transit authority>. Also termed public authority.

supervisory control The control exercised by a higher court over a lower court, as by prohibiting the lower court from acting extrajurisdictionally and by reversing its extrajurisdictional acts. See MANDAMUS.

supine negligence See advertent negligence under NEGLIGENCE.

supplanting limitation See LIMITATION.

supplemental adj. Supplying something additional; adding what is lacking <supplemental rules>.

supplemental affidavit An affidavit made in addition to a previous one, usu. to supply additional facts.

supplemental affidavit See AFFIDAVIT.

supplemental agreement See side agreement.

supplemental agreement See side agreement under AGREEMENT.

supplemental bill A bill filed for the purpose of adding something to an original bill. This addition usu. results from the discovery of new facts or from a new understanding of facts after the defendant has put on a defense.

supplemental bill See BILL (2).

supplemental bill in the nature of a bill of review See bill in the nature of a bill of review under BILL (2).

supplemental bill in the nature of a bill oj review See bill in the nature oj a bill oj review. 3. A legislative proposal offered for debate before its enactment.

supplemental claim See CLAIM (4).

supplemental claim A claim for further reliefbased on events occurring after the original claim was made. S. Bankruptcy. (1842) A right to payment or to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if the breach gives rise to a right to payment . It does not matter whether the right has been reduced to judgment or whether it is liquidated or unliquidated, fixed or contingent, matured or unmatured, disputed or undisputed, or secured or unsecured.

supplemental complaint See COMPI.AINT.