NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ripeness

In law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; for example, if a law of ambiguous quality has been enacted but never applied, a case challenging that law lacks the ripeness necessary for a decision. Ripeness represents the other side of the coin of standing, and deals with whether the defendant in a case has gone so far in his/her abusive behavior that the court has a right to hear the case. The goal is to prevent premature adjudication; if a dispute is insufficiently developed, any potential injury or stake is too speculative to warrant judicial action. Ripeness issues most usually arise when a plaintiff seeks anticipatory relief, such as an injunction. See U.S. Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U.S. 75 (1947); Laird v. Tatum, 408 U.S. 1 (1972), and Poe v. Ullman, 367 U.S. 497 (1961). Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ... In this 1947 case, federal employees sued to enjoin the Hatch Act of 1940, which prohibited federal executive branch employees from engaging in politics. ... In this 1972 lawsuit, the Supreme Court dismissed for lack of ripeness a claim in which the plaintiff accused the Army of alleged unlawful surveillance of lawful citizen political activity. ... Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- Poe v. ... Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Categories: Law stubs | Civil procedure Civil procedure is the written set of rules that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules explain how a lawsuit must be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings, motions, and... Justiciability is a term used in civil procedure to describe whether a dispute is capable of being settled by a court of law. ... An advisory opinion, in civil procedure, is an opinion issued by a court that does not have the effect of resolving a specific legal case, but merely advises on the constitutionality or interpretation of a law. ... In law, standing is the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged. ... In law, a matter is moot if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or events have placed it beyond the reach of the law. ... In United States law, a ruling that something is a political question is a statement by a federal court, declining to rule in a case because: 1) the Constitution has committed decisionmaking on this subject to another branch of the federal government; 2) there are inadequate standards for the court... The term jurisdiction has more than one sense. ... Subject matter jurisdiction is a legal term used in civil procedure to indicate that a case must be entered in the proper court of law based on the nature of the claim. ... Personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction of (or over) the person, or jurisdiction in personam is the power of a court to require a party (usually the defendant) or a witness to come before the court. ... Federal question jurisdiction is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States federal court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the plaintiff has alleged a violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of... Diversity jurisdiction is a term used in civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States district court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the parties are diverse, meaning that they come from different states. ... Minimum contacts is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to determine when it is appropriate for a court in one state to assert in personam jurisdiction (i. ... Amount in controversy is a term used in United States civil procedure to denote a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular court must be suing for a certain minimum amount before that court may hear the case. ... Sometimes a court may exercise jurisdiction over property located within the perimeter of its powers without regard to personal jurisdiction over the litigants; this is called jurisdiction in rem. ... Federalism is a system of government in which power is constitutionally divided between a central authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces). ... The Erie doctrine is a fundamental legal doctrine of Civil procedure in the American legal system that stems from Supreme court Justice Louis Brandeis watershed opinion in 304 US 64 (1938). ... An abstention doctrine is any one of several doctrines that a United States federal court might (or in some cases must) apply to refuse to hear a case, when hearing the case would potentially intrude upon the powers of the state courts. ... The abrogation doctrine is a doctrine in United States constitutional law which permits the U.S. Congress to allow lawsuits seeking monetary damages against individual U.S. states, so long as this is usually done pursuant to a constitutional limitation on the power of the states. ... The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is a rule of civil procedure enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in two cases, Rooker v. ...