FAQ

What Is RICO?

“RICO” gets used like a synonym for “big crime.” But the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is not a vibe. It is a specific federal statute, passed in 1970, that lets prosecutors and civil plaintiffs treat a long-running scheme as the main event. Most criminal law is built...

Arraignment Hearing

For many people, “arraignment” is just one of those courtroom words you only hear on TV. In real life, it is often one of the first moments the government says, out loud and on the record: this is what we accuse you of, and this is what can happen if you are convicted . An arraignment hearing...

RICO Case Meaning

People throw around the phrase “RICO case” like it is shorthand for big scandal . Someone gets indicted with a stack of charges, the headline says “RICO,” and the public takeaway is basically: this must be serious . It often is. But the meaning of a RICO case is more specific and more...

Motion for Summary Judgment

Most civil lawsuits do not end with a dramatic trial. They end on paper. One of the biggest paper tools in federal court is the motion for summary judgment , often shortened to MSJ . It is the moment a party tells the judge: if you view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in the other...

Adjustment of Status Explained

If you are eligible , you can pursue a green card from inside the United States without traveling abroad for a visa interview. That process is called Adjustment of Status , or AOS. It sounds simple in a sentence, but in practice it is a choreography of forms, deadlines, and eligibility rules that...

Humanitarian Parole vs. Advance Parole

In everyday English, “parole” sounds like something you get after serving time. In immigration law, it means something very different, and much more precarious. Immigration parole is a discretionary permission to be in the United States for a limited period and a specific purpose, without being...

Federal Magistrate Judges

You might expect “judge” to mean one thing in federal court: a black robe, a lifetime appointment, and the power to decide the case. Then you open your summons or read a docket update and see a different title: United States Magistrate Judge . That is when the questions start. Is a magistrate...

How to Read a U.S. Supreme Court Opinion

Most Supreme Court opinions look like they were designed to keep ordinary readers out. Dense prose. Latin phrases. Citations stacked like bricks. Then a one-line result that somehow changes the law for hundreds of millions of Americans. But you do not need a law degree to read an opinion...

Federal Sentencing Guidelines Explained

Federal sentencing has a reputation for being mechanical. Plug the crime into a formula, out comes a prison range, and everyone pretends the number was inevitable. Reality is more complicated, and more human. The federal system does use a structured framework called the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines ....

How Supreme Court Oral Arguments Work

Supreme Court oral argument is the part of a case most people can picture: nine justices on a bench, a single lectern, and lawyers trying to answer questions without saying the one sentence that sinks their side. But what the public sees as the event is, for the Court, a very specific tool. Oral...

Amicus Briefs: When Outside Groups Weigh In

You have probably seen the headline version of this: a major case hits the Supreme Court and suddenly a flood of outside groups “weigh in.” States. Trade associations. Civil rights organizations. Retired judges. Sometimes even members of Congress. Those filings are usually amicus briefs , short...

How Small Claims Court Works

Small claims court is the legal system’s fast lane: less formal, cheaper to file, and built for ordinary people who need a judge to settle a money dispute without turning it into a full-blown lawsuit. But “simple” does not mean “automatic.” The court does not investigate your story. The...

Jury Duty: What to Expect

Few envelopes trigger as much immediate bargaining as a jury summons. You scan it as if it were a parking ticket. You check the date. You do the math. You start asking everyone you know: “Can I get out of this?” But jury duty is not a random civic chore invented to ruin your week. It is one of...

How to Become a U.S. Citizen

Becoming a U.S. citizen is both a legal process and a civic turning point. It is paperwork and appointments, yes, but it is also the moment you move from living under the Constitution to helping steer the republic it creates. Naturalization is run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...

Savoy’s 20 Questions with Steve Mount Advertisement [Editor’s note: this interview with the Webmaster of this site appeared in the online magazine Savoy in its December, 1998 edition. Savoy is now defunct. This page is a reproduction of that interview. The original is no longer avaliable on the...

Off-topic Links Advertisement This page of links to other sites is intended to hold links that don’t seem to fit on the main Constitutional Links Page for whatever reason. Mostly, these links are related to government or politics, but not directly to the Constitution. If you know of a link that...

Nations of the World The following table is a compilation of data gathered from different sources, but primarily from the data found in the Information Please online databases. See the notes at the bottom of the page for some details about each column. Country Capital Adjective Languages Off?...

Constitutional FAQ Answer #99 | Question Index | Subject Index | Constitutional Index | Next Question>> Q99. “How many electors are there in total?” A. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2 provides that “Each State shall appoint … a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and...

Constitutional FAQ (Subject Order) Advertisement The U.S. Constitution On-Line has been online in one form or another since 1995. In that time, I have have had a lot of questions asked of me about the Constitution. This page, and the ones it links to, are a compilation of the best of those...

Constitutional FAQ Answer #93 | Question Index | Subject Index | Constitutional Index | Next Question>> Q93. “How is the Constitution a living document?” A. The Constitution has been termed a “Living Document,” but whether you think it is, or rather should be, depends on your interpretation...