Chapter 16: Appendices/Glossary

Appendix A
Oregon State Bar-Press-Broadcasters Joint Statement of Principles

Oregon’s Bill of Rights provides for both fair trials and freedom of speech. These are basic and unqualified. They are not ends in themselves but are necessary guarantors of freedom for the individual and the public’s rights to be informed. The necessity of preserving both the right to fair trial and the freedom to disseminate the news is of concern to responsible members of the legal and journalistic professions and is of equal concern to the public. At times these rights appear to be in conflict with each other.

In an effort to mitigate this conflict, the Oregon State Bar, the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters have adopted the following statement of principles to keep the public fully informed without violating the rights of any individual.

The news media have the right and the responsibility to print and to broadcast the truth.
However, the demands of accuracy and objectivity in news reporting should be balanced with the demands of fair play. The public has a right to be informed. The accused has the right to be judged in an atmosphere free from undue prejudice.
Good taste should prevail in the selection, printing and broadcasting of the news. Morbid or sensational details of criminal behavior should not be exploited.
The right of decision about the news rests with the editor or news director. In the exercise of judgment, the editor or news director should consider that:

an accused person is presumed innocent until proved guilty;
readers and listeners/viewers are potential jurors;
no person’s reputation should be injured needlessly.

The public is entitled to know how justice is being administered. However, it is unprofessional for any lawyer to exploit any medium of public information to enhance one side of a pending case. It follows that the public prosecutor should avoid taking unfair advantage of any position as an important source of news; this shall not be construed to limit any obligation to make available information to which the public is entitled.

In recognition of these principles, the undersigned hereby testify to their continuing desire to achieve the best possible accommodation of the rights of the individual and the rights of the public when these two fundamental precepts appear to be in conflict in the administration of justice.
Oregon State Bar
Oregon Newspaper Publisher’s Association
Oregon Association of Broadcasters

Appendix B
GUIDELINES FOR DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF INFORMATION ON CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

It is generally appropriate to disclose or report the following:

The arrested person’s name, age, residence, employment, marital status and relevant biographical information.
The charge.
The amount of bail and/or release conditions.
The identity of and biographical information concerning both complaining party and victim. Specific information about sexual assault or hate crime victims should be disclosed only when the public’s right to know clearly outweighs the victim’s or the complaining party’s right to privacy or safety.
The identity of the investigating and arresting agency and the length of the investigation.
The circumstances of arrest, including time, place, resistance, pursuit and weapons used.

It is rarely appropriate to disclose for publication or to report prior to the trial the following:

The contents of any admission or confession, or the fact that an admission or confession has been made.
Opinions about an arrested person’s character, guilt or innocence.
Opinions concerning evidence or argument in the case.
Statements concerning anticipated testimony or the truthfulness of prospective witnesses.
The results of fingerprints, polygraph or mental health examinations, ballistic tests or laboratory tests.
Precise descriptions of items seized or discovered during investigation.
Prior criminal charges and convictions.
Evidentiary details that were excluded in prior judicial proceedings in the same case.

Photography

Photographs of a suspect may be released by law enforcement personnel provided a valid law enforcement function is served. It is proper to disclose such information as may be necessary to enlist public assistance in apprehending fugitives from justice. Such disclosure may include photographs as well as records of prior arrests and convictions.
Law enforcement and court personnel should not prevent the photographing of defendants when they are in public places outside the courtroom. However, they should not pose the defendant.

Special Statement

The above Guidelines are supplemental to and should be interpreted with the “Oregon Bar-Press-Broadcasters Joint Statement of Principles” adopted in 1962 and revised in 1998.
The Guidelines are cautionary, not mandatory. They do not prohibit release of, or publication of, information needed to identify or aid in the capture of a suspect or information required in the vital public interest after arrest. Neither do they proscribe publication of information which is already in the public domain.
These Guidelines were adopted in 1968 and revised in 1998.

Appendix C

Procedure For Implementation Of These Principles And Guidelines

The Oregon Joint Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council was established to insure continuing attention to these principles and guidelines, and if necessary to propose amendments to them to the governing bodies of the three parent organizations. It may also take appropriate measures to call them to the attention of members of the bar, press and broadcasting professions, and to the public.

Any person wishing to report an apparent violation of these jointly agreed-upon principles or guidelines may do so in writing to the executive secretary of the Oregon State Bar, the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association or the Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Whichever executive receives the complaint shall forward copies of it immediately to the chair of the joint council and to the executive secretaries of the other two participating organizations. It shall be the duty of the executive secretary of the organization related to the same field as the person or organization against whom the complaint has been lodged to call his or her attention to the complaint by telephone or in writing, and to invite him or her to reply to it, in writing, within seven days. That is, a complaint against a lawyer or judge should be forwarded to him or her by the executive secretary of the Oregon State Bar; a complaint against a newspaper or newspaper person should be forwarded by the executive secretary of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and a complaint against a broadcasting station or broadcaster should be forwarded by the executive secretary of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters.

If, seven days after the complaint has been delivered, the chair of the joint council determines that a grievance still exists, he or she shall call a meeting of the joint council, or a subcommittee thereof, to examine the complaint, any reply which may have been filed, and any other facts which may be available to the joint council. Based on its investigations the joint council may make recommendations to the parties, and any such recommendations made shall be provided to the executive secretaries of the three participating organizations for publication to those organizations’ memberships if the respective organizations so desire. The joint council shall have no powers with respect to complaints other than to issue recommendations and to call attention to those recommendations. No recommendations shall be issued unless it has the approval of a separate majority of the representatives of each profession who have taken part in the joint council’s proceedings on the matter. The joint council shall have the authority to adopt its own further rules of procedure.

Appendix D

Fair Trial-Free Press Resolution

(As adopted April 20, 1977, by Oregon Judicial Conference, upon recommendation of the Conference Committee on Public Information and the Oregon Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council.)

Be it resolved by the Oregon Judicial Conference that the judges of Oregon attempt to employ voluntary cooperation as a means of preventing conflict between the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of fair trial and the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, and toward this end may request the advice and services of the Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council.

Be it also resolved that:

Judges anticipating a conflict between the two above-mentioned guarantees in a proceeding before their court should attempt to eliminate or reduce such conflict by voluntary consultation conducted on terms of mutual respect among the court, the parties to the proceeding and the news media, and that such consultation on ways to avoid problems may be initiated by the court, the parties or the media;

No judicial order to restrict or delay public information about a pending case be undertaken except as a last resort in exceptional cases and except after voluntary consultation has failed to produce informal, non-coercive assurances that the right of fair trial will be respected;

No such judicial order shall issue unless the interested parties and news media have been given timely opportunity to be heard in open court upon the proposed order; and

No such order may impose direct restraints on the news media.

Appendix E

Bylaws Of Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council

The council shall be composed of 24 members, 12 members appointed by the Oregon State Bar and 6 members appointed each by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters. The appointing organization shall strive to appoint broadly representative members to the council including, for example, trial judges, criminal and civil lawyers, editors, news directors, photographers, and reporters.

Members shall have an appointment term of three years.
Members can be appointed to a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Council leadership

Officers of the council shall consist of Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary.
Succession to the Chair shall be from: Secretary to Vice-Chair to Chair.
The Chair shall be shared by all three appointing groups on a rotational basis, i.e. in any one given year, the three officer positions shall be held by one representative from each group, providing that over a period of three years, each group will have occupied the Chair for one year.
Should a represented delegation wish to remove a council member of theirs, they may do so at any time by a decision supported by a two-thirds majority of all their appointed representatives.
An internal chair of each group has the additional authority, acting without ratification by the remainder of the delegation, to remove a committee member from that delegation for nonattendance, upon a member missing three out of any four Council meetings. This removal authority is to be exercised in the discretion of the internal chair.

Funding
The Council shall operate without funds, with the in-kind support of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Should the Council wish to conduct some type of program requiring funding, it shall seek funding from the three sponsoring organizations or other voluntary funding sources. The Council shall not become a funded organization for general operations.
Purpose
The Council shall exist for the purpose of communication among the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters, and their members. It shall seek to resolve and prevent disagreements and disharmony among them. It shall work to improve communication and understanding among the represented memberships, and shall educate and inform on issues involved the media and the Bar. The Council shall serve as an information clearinghouse and may provide information to all three represented groups on issues of concern to each of them. Member organizations retain their right to withdraw from participation in the Council or any of its activities at any time for any reason.
Official Positions
The Council may not take a position on any issue on behalf of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters, and does not represent and may not speak on behalf of the membership of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Each of the member organizations retains its right to oppose, support or reject on its own behalf any position taken by the Council, and shall not be deemed by its participation in the Council to sponsor or support any position taken by the Council.
Reporting
The Council shall provide each of the three member organizations a written and oral report at least annually, including a delineation of the Council’s activities and projects over the past year and a summary of its projects in progress as well as those planned for the upcoming year. Should any substantive changes in those anticipated projects be made during the course of any years, the Council shall immediately advise its three member organizations.
Duties of Officers
1. Chair. The Chair shall preside over the meetings of the Council, shall, with the assistance of the Secretary, set the agenda for each meeting, and shall be the spokesperson for the Council in its reporting requirements to the member organizations.
2. Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair shall substitute for the Chair in any of his or her duties as required because of absence, or other inability to serve. At the close of the term as Vice-Chair, the officer shall at the conclusion of the year of service report his or her planned projects or activities for the upcoming year as Chair, to each of the three member organizations.
3. Secretary. The Secretary shall mail to each member of the Council, and to the office of each member organization, meeting notices for each scheduled meeting, together with the agenda of items to be covered at the meeting. The Secretary shall work in concert with the Chair in preparing the agenda for each upcoming meeting. He or she shall take minutes of each meeting, shall mail copies of such minutes to each member of the Council and the office of the three supporting organizations following each meeting. Such minutes shall be approved or amended by the Council at the next scheduled meeting. Any amendments to the minutes shall also be provided by the Secretary to each member and the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and Oregon Association of Broadcasters. By June 1 of each year, the Secretary shall provide each of the three member organizations with a list of those members from its delegation whose terms shall terminate as of August 31. The organizations shall in turn provide the Secretary with a list of those new appointees whose term shall commence as of September 1 by August 1.
Meetings of the Council
1. The Council shall have meetings during the year on a regularly scheduled basis, at least quarterly.
2. Ten days notice, by first class mail, shall be required in the scheduling of meetings of the Council.
3. If a majority of the members of the Council desire a meeting, such may be called without the approval of the Chair under the same notice requirement as in 2 above, but with a statement containing the signatures of the majority included with the notice and agenda.
4. Council meetings shall be held in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings and Public Records Laws of the State of Oregon.
Voting
1. Voting by the Council, when required, shall be in person, and decisions made by majority vote except as otherwise provided herein.
2. Votes by proxy or other “in absentia” methods are not permitted.

Legal Glossary

ACTION, CASE, SUIT, LAWSUIT: These words mean essentially the same thing. They refer to a legal dispute brought into court for trial.
ADVERSARY SYSTEM: The system of justice in the U.S. and some other countries in which court cases are decided on the basis of evidence and arguments presented by each of the opposing, or adversary, parties who thus have full opportunity to present and establish their opposing contentions before the court or jury.
AMICUS CURIAE: (a me’kus ku’re-i) A “friend of the court”; one who interposes and volunteers information and argument on some matter of law before the court. The court has to give permission before someone can appear “amicus curiae.”
ANSWER: The paper in which the defendant answers the claims of the plaintiff.
APPELLANT: (a-pel’ant) The party appealing a decision or judgment to a higher court.
APPELLATE COURT: A court having jurisdiction of appeal and review; not a “trial court.”
ARRAIGNMENT: In criminal law, the stage where a prisoner is brought to court to hear the charge against him or her.
ATTACHMENT: A remedy by which a plaintiff is able to acquire a lien on property of a defendant for satisfaction of a judgment the plaintiff may obtain in the future.
BAIL: To set at liberty a person arrested or imprisoned, on security being taken for his or her appearance on a specified day and place to answer the charges brought against him or her.
BAILIFF: A court attendant whose duties are to keep order in the courtroom and to have custody of the jury.
BENCH WARRANT: An order issued by the court itself “from the bench” for the arrest of a person.
BURDEN OF PROOF: In the law of evidence, the necessity of proving a fact in dispute.
CERTIORARI: (Sur’shi-o-ra’re) An order commanding judges or officers of lower courts to certify or to provide records of proceedings in a case to a higher court for judicial review.
CHANGE OF VENUE: The removal of a lawsuit begun in one county or state to another for trial.
CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE: (See JUDGES).
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE: Evidence of an indirect nature by which a court or jury may reason from proved circumstances to establish by inference a principal fact.
CIVIL CASE: A lawsuit is called a “civil case” when it is between persons in their private capacities; or when the government sues an individual under the law, as distinguished from prosecuting a criminal charge. It results generally in a judgment for the plaintiff or for the defendant and, in many cases, involves the giving or denying of damages.
CLAIMANT: One who claims or asserts a right, demand, or claim.
CLERK: The clerk usually sits at the desk in front of the judge, is an officer of the court and keeps a record of papers filed. He or she has custody of the pleadings and records of the trial of the case, orders made by the court during the trial, and the decision at the end of the trial. He or she also administers the oath to jurors and all witnesses before they testify and marks all exhibits when they are presented as evidence.
CLOSING ARGUMENT: An oral review of the evidence and argument why their clients should win the case, by the attorneys at the end of the case, after all of the evidence is in.
CODE: A collection of laws systemically arranged and adopted by legislative authority.
COMMIT: To send a person involuntarily to prison or to an asylum or reformatory by lawful authority.
COMMON LAW: Law which derives solely from previous legal practice or from the previous decisions of courts.
COMMUTATION: The change of a punishment from a greater degree to a lesser degree, as from death to life imprisonment. In Oregon the governor has the power to commute sentences.
COMPLAINT: The paper in which the person who brings the lawsuit sets forth his or her claims against the defendant.
CONTEMPT OF COURT: Any act calculated to embarrass, hinder or obstruct a court in the administration of justice, or calculated to lessen its authority or dignity. Contempts are of two kinds: direct and indirect. Direct contempts are those committed in the immediate presence of the court; indirect contempt usually refers to the failure or refusal to obey a court order.
CORPUS DELICTI: (kor’pus de-lik’ti) The body (material substance) on which a crime has been committed, e.g., the corpse of a murdered man or woman, the charred remains of a burned house. Commonly used to mean the “body of evidence” indicating that a crime has been committed.
COURTS OF RECORD: Those courts whose courtroom proceedings are recorded by a court reporter. Courts not of record are those of lesser authority, whose proceedings are not recorded.
COURT REPORTER: The court reporter takes down in shorthand or on a machine everything that transpires, which constitutes the record in the case. The notes are subject to transcription later, if necessary.
CRIMINAL CASE: A lawsuit is called a “criminal case” when it is between the state on one side, as plaintiff, and a person on the other side, as defendant, charging the defendant with committing a crime, the verdict usually being “guilty” or “not guilty” and can result in incarceration.
CROSS-EXAMINATION: The questions a lawyer asks the other side’s witness after the other side’s attorney has finished with his or her questions or direct examination.
DECREE: In Oregon, this term has become obsolete. It means the same thing as “judgment,” which now is the technically correct term. A final judgment is one which fully and finally disposes of the litigation; an interlocutory decree or judgment is a temporary or preliminary decree or judgment which is not final.
DEFENDANT: In a civil case, the defendant is the person against whom the lawsuit is brought. In a criminal case, the defendant is the person charged with the crime.
DE NOVO: (de no’vo) Anew, fresh. (See TRIAL DE NOVO).
DEPOSITION: Questioning of a witness either orally by a lawyer in front of a court reporter or by written questions and answers, prior to trial. Depositions may be transcribed and under some circumstances may be used in a trial.
DIRECT EXAMINATION: A lawyer’s questioning of witnesses that he or she has called to provide testimony.
DIRECTED VERDICT: An instruction by the judge to the jury to reach a specific verdict, or the entry of such a verdict by the judge in a jury case.
DISCOVERY: A process for finding out relevant facts in a lawsuit before the trial begins. Discovery methods include depositions; inspections (“production”) of documents, things or property; physical or mental examinations of persons; requests for admission of facts; and written interrogatories that the other side must answer.
DISMISSAL WITHOUT/WITH PREJUDICE: Dismissal of a case “without prejudice” permits the complainant to sue again later on the same facts, while dismissal “with prejudice” bars the right to sue again on the same facts.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGES: (See JUDGES).
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: Common-law and constitutional prohibition against more than one criminal prosecution for the same acts.
DUE PROCESS: The guarantee of due process requires that every person have the protection of a fair hearing and procedures.
EMINENT DOMAIN: The power to take private property for public use by condemnation.
EQUITY, COURTS OF: Historically, courts which administer remedial justice according to the system of equity, as distinguished from courts of law. Equity courts are sometimes called courts of chancery. Juries are never used in equity cases. In Oregon, there is no distinction between courts of equity and courts of law, but some lawsuits are still equitable in nature, e.g. injunctions.
EQUITABLE ACTION FOR INJUNCTION: A lawsuit filed to restrain threatened wrongs, injuries, or actions, or to require a person to do specific actions. Equity cases do not use juries. The judge makes all decisions.
EXHIBITS: Objects, including pictures, books, letters and documents, are often received in evidence. These are called “exhibits” and are generally given to the jury to take into the jury room while deliberating.
EX PARTE: (ex par’te) By or for one party; done for, in behalf of, or on the application of, one party only and without the other parties being present in court for a hearing.
EX POST FACTO: (eks post fak’to) After the fact; an act or fact occurring after some previous act or fact. The Constitution of the United States prohibits ex post facto laws. This means that a person cannot be prosecuted for acts that were not crimes at the time the acts occurred.
EXTRADITION: The surrender of an individual in the custody of one state or nation to another state or nation on its request.
FELONY: A crime of graver nature than a misdemeanor. Generally, an offense punishable by death or one or more years imprisonment in a penitentiary.
GRAND JURY: A jury of inquiry whose duty is to receive complaints and accusations in criminal cases, hear the evidence and find bills of indictment in case where they are satisfied a trial is needed. Grand juries also can initiate their own investigations.
HABEAS CORPUS: (ha’be-as kor’pus) Latin for “You have the body.” The name given a variety of proceedings whose object is to bring a person before a court or judge. Usually, a writ of habeas corpus is directed to the official person detaining another, commanding him or her to produce the body of the prisoner or person detained so that the court may determine if the person is legally held or has been denied his or her liberty without due process of law.
INDICTMENT: An accusation in writing issued by a grand jury, charging that a person has done some act, or been guilty of some omission, which, by law, is a crime.
INJUNCTION: A court order that either requires a person to do an act or forbids a person to do an act.
INSTRUCTIONS OR “CHARGE” TO JURY: The outline of the rules of law which the jury must follow in deciding the factual issues submitted to them is called either the judge’s “charge” to the jury or his or her “instructions” to the jury.
INTERLOCUTORY: Provisional; temporary; not final. Refers to court orders pending final judgment in a case.
INTERPLEADER: When two or more persons claim the same thing (or fund) held by a third person, and he or she, making no claim to it him or herself, is unsure which of them has a right to it, he or she may sue the claimants as defendants and require them to interplead their claims so that he or she can get a court order who has the right to the thing.
ISSUE: A disputed question of fact or law is referred to as an “issue.”
JUDGES: In Oregon, the constitution provides that judges of the Supreme Court and other courts shall be elected by the legal voters of the state or of their respective districts for a term of six years, that their compensation shall not be diminished, and that they shall retire at 75 years of age. All judges must be citizens of the United States, residents of Oregon for three years (exceptions noted below), and members of the Oregon State Bar. Supreme Court judges, at the time of their election, must have been admitted to practice before the Oregon Supreme Court. District judges are required to be residents of the county only, unless they are elected in counties with over 500,000 population. In that case, they must be residents for three years. There are no requirements that county judges, municipal judges or justices of the peace be lawyers.
JUDICIAL CONFERENCE: All the judges of the Supreme Court, Tax Court, and circuit courts belong to the Oregon Judicial Conference, which meets at least annually. The conference is charged by statute with the responsibility of keeping judges aware, through continuous survey and study, of the organization, jurisdiction, procedures, practices, and methods of administration and operation of the various courts of the state, and with the objective of improving the administration of justice in Oregon.
JURISPRUDENCE: The philosophy of law or the science which studies the principles of law and legal relations.
JURY: A certain number of citizens, selected according to law and sworn to consider questions of fact brought to the court for decision.
JURY PANEL: All of the prospective jurors from which the trial jury is chosen.
MANDAMUS: (man-da’mus) The name of an order by which a court of superior jurisdiction directs an inferior court or public officer to perform an official act.
MANDATE: A judicial command directing a public officer to enforce a judgment or sentence.
MISDEMEANOR: An offense less than a felony; generally one punishable by fine or imprisonment other than in penitentiaries.
MISFEASANCE: Usually, the improper performance of some lawful act.
MISTRIAL: An erroneous or invalid trial due to a substantial error that voids the trial.
MOOT: A moot issue is one not settled by judicial decision but no longer in dispute or in need of a decision.
OBJECTION OVERRULED: This term means that, in the judge’s opinion, the lawyer’s objection is not correct under the rules of law. The judge’s ruling, so far as a juror is concerned, is final and must be accepted by the jury.
OBJECTION SUSTAINED: This means that the judge agrees that, under the rules of law, the lawyer’s objection was correct. This ruling likewise is not subject to question by jurors.
OPENING STATEMENT: Before introducing any evidence for his or her side of the case, a lawyer is permitted to tell the jury what the case is about and what he or she expects the evidence to be. This is called the “opening statement.”
PARTIES: The plaintiff and defendant in the case. They are sometimes called the “litigants.”
PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE: The challenge a party may use to reject a certain number of prospective jurors without assigning any reason.
PETIT JURY: The ordinary jury of 12 (or fewer) persons for the trial of a civil or criminal case. So called to distinguish it from the grand jury.
PLAINTIFF: A person who files a lawsuit.
PLEADINGS: The parties in a lawsuit must file in court papers stating their claims against each other. In a civil case, these usually consist of a complaint filed by the plaintiff, an answer filed by the defendant and, oftentimes, a reply filed by the plaintiff. These are called “pleadings.”
POWER OF ATTORNEY: A document authorizing one person to act as another person’s agent.
PREJUDICIAL ERROR: Synonymous with “reversible error;” an error of sufficient seriousness to justify an appellate court’s reversal of a judgment.
PROBATION: In modern criminal administration, allowing a person convicted of some offense to go free, under a suspension of sentence, during good behavior, and generally under the supervision of a probation officer.
PROSECUTOR: One who instigates the prosecution on which an accused is arrested or who presses charges against the party whom he or she suspects to be guilty. Also, the attorney who represents the government in prosecuting a criminal case.
QUASH: To overthrow; vacate; to annul or void a summons or indictment or other document.
QUO WARRANTO: (kwo wo-ran’to) An order issuable by the state, through which it demands an individual to show by what right he or she exercises an authority or claims public office which can only be exercised or claimed through a valid grant or franchise from the state.
RECORD: This refers to the pleadings, the exhibits, and the word-for-word record made by the court reporter of all the proceedings at the trial.
REPLY: The paper in which the plaintiff answers any claims made by the defendant in his or her answer.
REST: This is a legal phrase which means that the lawyer has concluded the evidence he or she wants to introduce in that stage of the trial.
SINE QUA NON: (si’ne kwa non) An indispensable requisite.
STARE DECISIS: (sta’re de-si’sis) The doctrine that, when a court has once decided a principle of law as applicable to a certain set of facts, it will adhere to that principle and apply it to future cases where the facts are substantially the same.
STATUTE: The written law adopted by the Legislature as distinguished from the common law.
STAY: A stopping or temporary halting of a judicial proceeding by order of the court until some future even occurs.
STRIKING TESTIMONY: On some occasions, after a witness has testified, the judge will order certain evidence stricken from the record and will direct the jury to disregard it. When this is done, the jury must treat the evidence stricken as though it had never been given and must wholly disregard it.
SUBPOENA: The document which is issued for service on a witness to compel his or her appearance in court or for a deposition or other hearing.
SUBROGATION: The substitution of one person in the place of another with reference to a claim, so that he or she who is substituted succeeds to the rights of the other in relation to the claim.
SUBROGEE: One who is subrogated; one who succeeds to the rights of another by subrogation.
SUBSTANTIVE LAW: The law dealing with rights, duties and liabilities, as distinguished from the law regulating procedure.
SUMMONS: An order directing the sheriff or other officer to notify the named person that a lawsuit has been commenced against him or her in court and that he or she is required to appear by a certain time, and answer the complaint or suffer a judgment against him or her.
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: (See JUDGES).
TESTIMONY: Evidence given verbally by a witness, under oath, as distinguished from evidence derived from writings and other sources.
TORT: A tort is negligent or wrongful conduct which causes bodily injury or property damage for which compensation can be recovered in a civil lawsuit. Most torts are the result of negligence such as automobile accidents. Some are intentional, such as libel, slander, assault and battery.
TORT CLAIMS ACT: In Oregon, the traditional doctrine of governmental immunity was ended in large part by legislation enacted in 1967. Under the new law, every public body, including every local government agency, is liable to third parties for wrongful deaths, personal injuries, and property damage that result from governmental operations involving negligent or wrongful conduct, subject to limitations on the amount that can be recovered. This law is commonly referred to as the Tort Claims Act.
TRIAL DE NOVO: (de no’vo) A new trial or retrial in an appellate court in which the whole case is gone into as if there had been no trial in a lower court and regardless of the findings and decisions of the lower court.
TRUE BILL: In criminal practice, the endorsement made by a grand jury on a bill of indictment when they find it sufficient to support a criminal charge.
USURY: Charging an illegally high interest rate.
VENIRE: (ve-ni’re) Technically, an order summoning persons to court to act as jurors; popularly used as meaning the body of people summoned.
VENUE: (ven’u) The particular county, city, or geographical area in which a court with jurisdiction may hear and decide a case.
VERDICT: The formal decision or finding made by a jury and reported to the court.
VOIR DIRE: (vwor dear) To speak the truth. The phrase denotes the preliminary questioning of potential jurors by the court and attorneys to determine the jurors’ qualifications.
WITNESS: One who testifies, under oath, to what he or she has seen, heard, or observed.
WRIT: An order requiring the performance of a specified act or giving authority to have something done.


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Appendix AOregon State Bar-Press-Broadcasters Joint Statement of Principles

Appendix BGUIDELINES FOR DISCLOSURE AND REPORTING OF INFORMATION ON CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS