TITLE: III. Impeachment on
Trial
Vocabulary
-
attorney client privilege
the right of a client to refuse to disclose information he or she shared
confidentially with an attorney.
-
bill of attainder - a
legislative act that singles out one or more persons and imposes punishment on
them, without a trial.
-
brief - a written statement
setting out ones arguments.
-
burden of proof the duty
to prove an assertion to move on in a legal proceeding.
-
capias an order
commanding someone to be arrested or taken into custody.
-
categorical immunity not
held responsible under any circumstances.
-
compel force someone to
do something.
-
Connecticut General
Statutes the collection of state laws that govern Connecticut.
-
disclosure making
something known that was previously unknown.
-
due process the
administration of justice according to established rules and principles.
-
impeach - to accuse a
public official of a crime while in office.
-
in limine at the outset.
(usage: Attorney Ross Garber requests permission to file a motion in limine
prior to the calling of witnesses by the Select Committee of Inquiry.)
-
inference - a logical
judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather
than on the basis of direct observation.
-
jurisdiction the power to
exercise authority over persons and things within a territory.
-
justiciable - issues and
claims that can be properly examined in court.
-
litigant a party to a
lawsuit.
-
per curiam - an opinion
which expresses the decision in the case but which does not identify the judge
who wrote it.
-
precedent court decision
on a legal question that guides future cases with similar questions.
-
quash to make void.
-
quorum the minimum number
of members required to hold a meeting.
-
ripe a case that is ready
to be argued before the Supreme Court because all other avenues for
determining the case have been exhausted.
-
Select Committee of Inquiry
to Recommend Whether Sufficient Grounds Exist for the House of Representatives
to Impeach Governor John Rowland a group of ten Representatives assigned by
the House in House Resolution 702. Committee is referred to throughout the
unit as the Select Committee of Inquiry.
-
separation of powers the
idea that government is most free and effective when the powers and functions
of government are divided amongst separate, independent governmental
institutions.
-
special counsel a lawyer
appointed for a particular purpose. (Attorney Steven Reich was appointed as
Special Counsel for the Select Committee of Inquiry.)
-
speech and debate
protection refers to the immunity of legislators from arrest or prosecution
while the legislature is in session.
-
standing the right or
capacity to initiate a suit.
-
stay an order forbidding
an action until an event occurs or the order is lifted.
-
subpoena
an order requiring an individual to testify.