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Govt - Topic 13
Government - Topic 13 Vocabulary (lessons 3, 4 & 5)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| item veto | a governor may veto one or more items in a bill without rejecting the entire measure |
| clemency | mercy or leniency granted to an offender by a chief executive |
| pardon | release from the punishment or legal consequences of a crime, by the President (in a federal case) or a governor (in a State case) |
| commutation | the power to reduce (commute) the length of a sentence or fine for a crime |
| reprieve | an official postponement of the execution of a sentence |
| parole | the release of a prisoner short of the complete term of the original sentence |
| common law | an unwritten law made by a judge that has developed over centuries from those generally accepted ideas of right and wrong that have gained judicial recognition |
| precedent | court decision that stands as an example to be followed in future, similar cases |
| criminal law | the portion of the law that defines public wrongs and provides for their punishment |
| felony | a serious crime which may be punished by a heavy fine and/or imprisonment or even death |
| misdemeanor | a lesser offense, punishable by a small fine and/or a short jail term |
| civil law | the portion of the law relating to human conduct, to disputes between private parties, and to disputes between private parties and the government |
| jury | a body of persons selected according to law who hear evidence and decide questions of fact in a court case |
| information | formal charge filed by a prosecutor without the action of a grand jury |
| justice of the peace | a judge who stands on the lowest level of the State judicial system and presides over justice courts |
| warrant | a court order authorizing, or making legal, some official action such as a search or an arrest |
| preliminary hearing | the first step in a major criminal prosecution where the judge decides if the evidence is enough to hold the person for action by the grand jury or the prosecutor |
| appellate jurisdiction | the authority of a court to review decisions of inferior (lower) courts |
| county | a major unit of local government in most States |
| township | a subdivision of a county |
| special district | an independent unit created to perform one or more related governmental functions at the local level |
| charter | a city's basic law, its constitution; a written grant of authority from the king |
| mayor-council government | the oldest and most widely used type of city government, which includes an elected mayor as the chief executive and an elected council as its legislative body |
| strong-mayor government | a type of government in which the mayor heads the city's administration |
| weak-mayor government | a type of government in which the mayor shares his or her executive duties with other elected officials |
| commission government | a government formed by commissioners, heads of different departments of city government, who are popularly elected to form the city council, thus incorporating both legislative and executive powers in one body |
| council-manager government | a modification of the mayor-council government, it consists of a strong council of members elected on a non-partisan ballot, a weak mayor who is elected by the people, and a manager who is named by the council |
| zoning | the practice of dividing a city into a number of districts and regulating the uses of that property |
| metropolitan | a city and area around it |
Created by:
brittlloyd
Popular American Government sets