On the official United States Court of Federal Claims’ website’s Pro Se Information section, as well as several other federal websites recommending pro se self-help resources, Black’s Law Dictionary is listed. Definitions of legal terms found within the Tenth Edition version of this historic dictionary are found throughout this website, which are being shown here for First Amendment purposes in order to bring pertinent information to people in such a manner so as to reduce harm and raise appreciation for rights according to their true measure and purpose — and for their protection. All copyrighted material found throughout this website is utilized in accordance with Fair Use.
Who is Henry Campbell Black’?
Black grew up in New York State’s Hudson Valley region, & developed an interest in the law at a young age. He was regarded something of a prodigy, 11publishing his first edition of Black’s Law Dictionary before his 31st birthday [1] in 1891, & the second edition in 1910. [2]
He wasn’t a particularly noteworthy lawyer. He received formal legal training & began to practice law after graduating from a now-defunct law school in Pennsylvania, but then grew frustrated with the demands of the profession & left his post after just five years. He then holed himself up in his parents’ house & began compiling a comprehensive list of legal terms.
He published over 1,000 scholarly articles that touched upon arcane legal matters as well as timely political issues. In recognition of his achievements, he received an honorary law degree from his undergraduate alma mater (the school, college, or university that one once attended) in 1917. Black kept returning to the legal dictionary that he had created.
During his lifetime, he issued several revised editions of the tome. With each successive publication, he personally oversaw the addition of thousands of new definitions & concepts. By the time he passed on in 1927, he had earned recognition as one of the most powerful legal thinkers of his generation. [3] Today Black’s Law Dictionary is the most widely used law dictionary in the United States; used for terms in legal briefs & court opinions.
“Liberty, whether natural, civil, or political, is the lawful power in the individual to exercise his corresponding rights. It is greatly favored in law.”
– Henry Campbell Black, Handbook of American Constitutional Law, 1895
Wild Willpower PAC would like to formally thank the many contributors who have collectively helped to make this website available to humanity. These “preservers of knowledge” of humanity’s history have greatly aided our comprehension of our own past while also providing access to a sturdy direction forward. Without further adieu:
Black’s Law Dictionary
Deluxe Tenth Edition
by Henry Campbell Black
Editor in Chief:
Bryan A. Garner, President, LawProse, Inc.
Distinguished Research Professor of Law
Southern Methodist University
Dallas Texas
© 2014, Thompson Reuters
ISBN 978-0-314-62130-6
Associate Editors, LawProse, Inc.:
Karolyne H.C. Garner, J.D.
Tiger Jackson, J.D., LL.M.
Becky R. McDaniel, J.D.
Jeff Newman, J.D.
Contributing Lawyer-Editors:
Herbert J. Hammond
Dallas, Texas
Tony Honoré
Oxford, England
Brian Melendez
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gary Muldoon
Rochester, New York
Ann Taylor Schwing
Sacramento, California
Fred Shapiro
New Haven, Connecticut
Joseph F. Spaniol Jr.
Bethesda, Maryland
Pronunciation Editor:
Charles Harrington Elster
San Diego, California
Panel of Academic Contributors:
Hans W. Baade
University of Texas
Lynn A. Baker
University of Texas
Thomas E. Baker
Florida International University
Mitchell N. Berman
University of Texas
Barbara Aronstein
Black Columbia University
Hon. Thomas Buergenthal
George Washington University
Edward H. Cooper
University of Michigan
Daniel Robert Coquillette
Boston College
David Crum
University of Houston
Ross E. Davies
George Mason University
Deborah A. DeMott
Duke University
Deborah W. Denno
Fordham University
A. Darby Dickerson
Texas Tech University
Christopher R. Drahozal
University of Kansas
James Joseph Duane
Regent University
Meredith I. Duncan
University of Houston
David G. Epstein
University of Richmond
(the late) E. Allan Farnsworth
Columbia University
Ward Farnsworth
University of Texas
Martha A. Field
Harvard University
Monroe H. Freedman
Hofstra University
Richard D. Freer
Emory University
Mark A. Geistfeld
New York University
8. Elizabeth Gibson
University of North Carolina
Antonio Gidi
University of Houston
Alex Glashausser
Washburn University
(the late) Richard I. Graving
South Texas College of Law
Alan Gunn
University of Notre Dame
Egon Guttman
American University
Geoffrey C Hazard, jr.
University of California-Hastings
R.H. Helmholz
University of Chicago
Tony Honoré
Oxford University
Heidi M. Hurd
University of Illinois
Julian C. Juergenameyer
Georgia State University
Sanford H. Kadish
University of California at Berkeley
Gideon Kanner
Loyola Law School
Joseph Kimble
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Edward J. Kionka
Southern Illinois University
Douglas Laycock
University of Virginia
(the late) Saúl Litvinoff
Louisiana State University
John S. Lowe
Southern Methodist University
(the late) Julius J. Marke
St. John’s University
Mary Beth Matthews
University of Arkansas
Thomas William Mayo
Southern Methodist University
Lucy S. McGough
Appalachian School of Law
Joseph W. McKnight
Southern Methodist University
John K. McNulty
University of California at Berkeley
Ernest Metzger
University of Aberdeen
James E. Moliterno
Washington & Lee University
Jane Campbell Moriarty
Duquesne University
James A.R. Nafziger
Willamette University
John B. Oakley
University of California at Davis
John V. Orth
University of North Carolina
Mary F. Radford
Georgia State University
Alan N. Resnick
Hofstra University
O.F. Robinson
University of Glasgow
Hon. Jean Rosenbluth
University of Southern California
Paul Frederick Rothstein
Georgetown University
Ronald Daniel Rotunda
Chapman University
Stephen A. Saltzburg
George Washington University
Ronald J. Scalise jr.
Tulane University
Frederic S. Schwartz
Oklahoma City University
Charles Silver
University of Texas
Lawrence M. Solan
Brooklyn Law School
John G. Sprankling
Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Marc I. Steinberg
Southern Methodist University
Michael F. Sturley
University of Texas
Symeon C. Symeonides
Willamette University
Peter Meijes Tiersma
Loyola Law School
Mark V. Tushnet
Harvard University
William D. Underwood
Mercer University
David M. Walker
University of Glasgow
Robert Weisberg
Stanford Law School
Mary Whisner
University of Washington
Peter Winship
Southern Methodist University
Charles W. Wolfram
Cornell Law School
Richard C. Wydick
University of California at Davis
A.N. Yiannopoulos
Tulane University
Kyu Ho Youm
University of Oregon
Judith T. Younger
University of Minnesota
Panel of Practitioner Contributors:
Sherri K. Adelkoff
Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania
Daniel Alexander
Los Angeles, California
Suzanne Antley
San Diego, California
Leslie Karyn Arfine
Ridgefield , Connecticut
John R. Armstrong II
Irvine, California
Brad D. Bailey
Evergreen, Colorado
William P. Baker
Baltimore, Maryland
Judith M. Bambace
San Diego, California
Daniel P. Barer
Los Angeles, California
Ben A. Baring jr.
Houston, Texas
Chad Baruch
Dallas, Texas
Isabel Barzun
New York, New York
Eric S. Basse
Bremerton, Washington
Laurie T. Baulig
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Hugh C. Beck
Littleton, Ohio
Adron W. Beene
San Jose, California
Bill C. Berger
Denver, Colorado
Xanthe M. Berry
Oakland, California
Nathan V. Bishop
East Hills, New York
Michael R. Blum
San Francisco, California
Deborah L. Borman
Chicago, Illinois
Sara E. Bouley
Salt Lake City, Utah
Kevin I. Breer
Westwood, Kansas
Mark A. Bregman
Scottsdale, Arizona
Beth A. Brennan
Missoula, Montana
Joyce Murphy Brooks
Charlotte, North Carolina
Diana Brown
Houston, Texas
Lynne Thaxter Brown
Fresno, California
James Andrew Browne
San Francisco, California
Julie A. Bufhngton
Dallas, Texas
B. Chad Bungard
Fredericksburg. Virginia
Beverly Ray Burlingame
Dallas, Texas
Fritz Byers
Toledo, Ohio
H. Thomas Byron III
Washington, D.C.
Christopher A. Camardello
Minneapolis, Minnesota
David D. Cardone
San Diego, California
David L. Cargille
New York, New York
Robert I. Carty Ir.
Houston, Texas
Thomas L. Casey
Lansing, Michigan
Bradley Charles
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Li Chen
Dallas, Texas
Jordan B. Cherrick
St. Louis, Missouri
Peter Clapp
Richmond, California
Kristina A. Clark
Washington, DC.
Randall B. Clark
Boston, Massachusetts
A. Craig Cleland
Atlanta, Georgia
Michael Scott Coffman
Salt Lake City, Utah
Elizabeth I. Cohen
Chicago, Illinois
Charles Dewey Cole jr.
New York, New York
Samuel Scott Cornish
New York, New York
Emily Coté
San Jose, California
Jefferson Coulter
Seattle, Washington
Jim Covington
Springfield, Illinois
Bernadette S. Curry
Fairfield, California
Jonathan A. Darcy
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania
Elaine Maier Deering
Boca Raton, Florida
A. Charles Dell’Ario
Oakland, California
C. David Dietz
St. Paul, Minnesota
Michael]. Dimlno
Washington, DC.
Richard S. Dodd II
Reston, Virginia
Francis X. Doherty
San Rafael, California
Leah Domstead
Dallas, Texas
Preston Saul Draper
Norman, Oklahoma
John C. Duncan
Norman, Oklahoma
Gerald F. Dusing
Covington, Kentucky
Steve C. Eggimann
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Daniel P. Elms
Dallas, Texas
Ann Erickson Gault
Pontiac, Michigan
Michael T. Fackler
Jacksonville, Florida
Michael E. Faden
Rockville, Maryland
John D. Faucher
Thousand Oaks, California
Bruce Ellis Fein
Washington, DC.
Janet Rosenblum Fipphen
Fairfield, Connecticut
Angela Fisher
Knoxville, Tennessee
Neil Fried
Arlington, Virginia
Elizabeth Klein Frumkin
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mark W. Gaffney
Pelham Manor, New York
Duane H. Gall
Denver, Colorado
Nicole S. Gambrell
Dallas, Texas
Baldemar Garcia jr.
Laredo, Texas
Kathryn Gardner
Topeka, Kansas
Caroline B. Garner
New York, New York
Anne W. Gill
Castle Rock, Colorado
Alexander C.D. Giza
Culver City, California
Kevin W. Grierson
Norfolk, Virginia
Ellen B. Gwynn
Tallahassee, Florida
Matthew C. Hans
St. Louis, Missouri
Yaakov Har-Oz Beit
Shemesh, Israel
William H. Hart
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Molly Hatchell
Austin, Texas
Scott M. Heenan
Cincinnati, Ohio
Marie Hejl
Austin, Texas
Susan Hoffman
San Luis Obispo, California
Jeffrey A. Hogge
Elk Grove, California
Brian John Hooper
Arlington, Virginia
Henry W. Huffnagle
Washington, DC.
Hon. Lynn N. Hughes
Houston, Texas
Roger N. Hughes
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Maryanne Burnes Hutchinson
Braintree, Massachusetts
Amy B. Ikerd
Goldwater, Ohio
Peter O. Israel
Los Angeles, California
Dianne L. Izzo
Austin, Texas
Matthew A. Jacober
St. Louis, Missouri
Robert A. James
San Francisco, California
Eric K. Johnson
Murray, Utah
David R. Johnstone
Washington, DC.
Richard B. Katskee
Washington, DC.
Stuart B. Katz
Chappaqua, New York
Paul D. Keeper
Austin, Texas
lene Azevedo Kelly
Oakhurst, California
Dennis Kelly
Fort Worth, Texas
Paul Kiernan
Washington, DC.
Clark D. Kimball
Rochester; New York
James A. King
Columbus, Ohio
Andrew D. Klein
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Melissa Lin Klemens
Washington, DC.
William M. Klimon
Washington, DC.
Heléna Klumpp
Deerfield, Illinois
Jonathan H. Koenig
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Thomas J. Koffer
New York, New York
Christina M. Kotowski
San Francisco, California
Mike Kueber
San Antonio, Texas
N anda P.B.A. Kumar
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Robert J. Lall
Cleveland, Ohio
Hon. Harriet Lansing
St. Paul, Minnesota
Geoffrey Larson
Minneapolis, Minnesota
James Hays Lawson
Louisville, Kentucky
Hon. Steve Leben
Topeka, Kansas
James V. Leito
Dallas, Texas
Janet Li
Foster City, California
Dryden I. Liddle
Alameda, California
Raymond J. Liddy
San Diego, California
Jacob R. Lines
Tucson, Arizona
Morris D. Linton
Salt Lake City, Utah
David W. Lon
Washington, D.C.
Thomas G. Lovett IV
Minneapolis. Minnesota
Margaret I. Lyle
Dallas, Texas
David P. Lone
Chicago, Illinois
Robert N. Markle
Fairfax, Virginia
Anthony J. Marks
Los Angeles, California
Catherine M. Masters
Chicago, Illinois
Jeffrey Matloff
Bellevue, Washington
Michael I. Mauro
Stamford, Connecticut
Olga I. May
San Diego, California
Jeffrey T. McPherson
St. Louis, Missouri
John W. McReynolds
Dallas, Texas
Edward R. Mevec
Buchanan, New York
Andrew E. Miller
Los Angeles, California
Matthew C. Miller
Kansas City, Missouri
Daphna H. Mitchell
New York, New York
Michael S. Mitchell
New Orleans, Louisiana
Andrew W. Moeller
Amherst, New York
Thomas I. Moses
San Francisco, California
R. Eric Nielsen
Bethesda, Maryland
Siobhan Nurre
San Jose, California
Consuelo Marie Ohanesian
Phoenix, Arizona
Erin I. O’Leary
Orlando, Florida
Kymberly K. Oltrogge
Drippings Springs, Texas
William S. Osborn
Dallas, Texas
James C. Owens
Washington, D. C.
Christine C. Pagano
Oakland, California
Paul I. Perlman
Buffalo, New York
Arthur R. Petrle II
Newport Beach. California
Rebecca B. Phalen
Atlanta. Georgia
David Pickle
Washington, DC.
Mark D. Plaisance
Baker, Louisiana
Matthew Eliot Pollack
Topsham, Maine
Jeffrey D. Polsky
San Francisco, California
Sam I. Polverino
San Jose, California
Christina E. Ponig
Houston, Texas
Steve Putman
Houston, Texas
Robert M. Redis
White Plains, New York
James M. Reiland
Chicago, Illinois
Tracy L. Reilly
Dallas, Texas
David E. Robbins
Broomall, Pennsylvania
Armando Rodriguez-Feo
Washington, DC.
Susan L. Ronn Kohimarama
Auckland, New Zealand
Joseph E. Root
Montara, California
Hon. Janice M. Rosa
Erie County, New York
Glenn F. Rosenblum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Joseph M. Russell
Chicago, Illinois
James B. Ryan
San Diego, California
Patrick M. Ryan
San Francisco, California
James F. Schaller II
Toledo, Ohio
Edward Schiffer
San Francisco, California
David W. Schultz
Houston, Texas
Herbert R. Schulze
Truckee, California
Benjamin G. Shatz
Los Angeles, California
Denise Wimbiscus
Shepherd Solon, Ohio
Richard A. Sherburne Jr.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Anne M. Sherry
Riverswood, Illinois
Jordan M. Sickman
Southneld, Michigan
Marshall Simmons
Dallas, Texas
Fred A. Simpson
Houston, Texas
Adam Snyder
Wadsworth, Illinois
Randall I. Snyder
Bismarck, North Dakota
William C. Spence
Chicago, Illinois
Scott A. Stengel
Washington, DC.
Heather B. Stern
Los Angeles, California
Scott Patrick Stolley
Dallas, Texas
Victor R. Stull
Redlands, California
Michelle Dimond Szambelan
Spokane, Washington
Tony Tanke
Davis, California
Craig D. Tindall
Phoenix, Arizona
Nick Tishler
Niskayuna, New York
Peter J. Toren
New York, New York
Renée Maria Tremblay
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Craig I. Trocino
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
R. Collins Vallée
Mandeville. Louisiana
Arthur A. Vingiello
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
M. Bruce Volbeda
Seattle, Washington
Mani S. Walia
Houston. Texas
Kristin P. Walinski
Richmond, Virginia
Richard S. Walinski
Toledo, Ohio
Alison Wallis
Harvey, Louisiana
Mark R. Wasem
Dallas, Texas
Christine E. Watchorn
Columbus, Ohio
M. John Way
Tumwater, Washington
Philip Weltner II
Atlanta, Georgia
Garner K. Weng
San Francisco, California
Eric R. Werner
Fort Worth, Texas
Donald C. Wheaten jr.
St. Clair Shores, Michigan
Carla L. Wheeler
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Daniel R. White
Los Angeles, California
Malcolm E. Whittaker
Houston, Texas
Jamison Wilcox
Hamden, Connecticut
Hon. Bruce Donald Willis
Plymouth, Minnesota
Conrad R. Wolan
Elmira, New York
Craig M. Wolff
Yarmouth, Maine
Sara T.S. Wolff
Yarmouth, Maine
Albert I. Wollerrnan
Tallahassee, Florida
William C. Wright
West Palm Beach, Florida
STAFF COUNSEL
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LawProse, Inc.
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Seth C. Rasmussen
Richardson, Texas
Jonathan Michael Thomas
Dallas, Texas
Peter R. Thompson
Dallas, Texas
Laurie M. Velasco
Dallas, Texas
References:
[1]: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Edition Online, “Who Is Henry Campbell Black?”: http://thelawdictionary.org/article/who-was-henry-campbell-black/
[2]: Online Computer Library Center, 33831602:https://www.worldcat.org/title/law-dictionarycontaining-definitions-of-the-terms-and-phrases-of-american-and-english-jurisprudence-ancient-and-modern-and-including-the-principal-terms-of-international-constitutional-ecclesiastical-and-commercial-law-and-medical-jurisprudence-with-a-collection-of-legal-maxims-numerous-select-titles-from-the-roman-modern-civil-scotch-french-spanish-and-mexican-law-and-other-foreign-systems-and-a-table-of-abbreviations/oclc/33831602
[3]: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Edition Online, “Who Is Henry Campbell Black?”: http://thelawdictionary.org/article/who-was-henry-campbell-black/
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