Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law 3Rd Edition Volume 9 P34 pps

area. Such a practice can clash with a commu- nity’s established plan for land use. Spot zoning is usually invalid because it amounts to an arbitrary, capricious, and unrea- sonable treatment of a limited area within a particular district and is, therefore, a deviation from the comprehensive zoning plan. FURTHER READING Salkin, Patricia E. 2009. American Law of Zoning 5th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West. CROSS REFERENCES Land-Use Control; Zoning. SPOUSAL ABUSE See DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. SQUATTER An individual who settles on the land of another person without any legal authority to do so, or without acquiring a legal title. In the past, the term squatter specifically applied to an individual who settled on public land. Cur rently it is used interchangeably with intruder and trespasser. Yet a squatter, or a person who enters premises without permission and has been in occupancy for at least 30 days, has a somewhat more murky status. For example, New York law RPAPL § 713(3) authorizes summary EVICTION proceedings against squatters. A squatter is defined as an occupant of the premises who intruded into (or “squatted upon”) the premises without the permission of either the owner, her or his predecessors in title, or someone else entitled to possession. Robbins v. De Lee, 34 A.D.2d 870, 310 N.Y.S.2d 804 (3d Dep’t 1970). SS An abbreviation used in the portion of an affidavit, pleading, or record known as the statement of venue. The abbreviation is read as “to wit” and is intended to be a contraction of the Latin term scilicet. In a caption at the top of a court filing, for example, the abbreviation tends to be used in the following format: “STATE OF ILLINOIS SS. COUNTY OF CHAMPAIGN.” This very stan- dard and straightforward notation, in this instance, would mean that a matter is before a state court in Illinois and, more particularly, that the local subdivision is the County of Champaign, which is where the courthouse is located. v ST. CLAIR, JAMES DRAPER James Draper St. Clair was a distinguished attorney who attained national prominence in 1974 as special counsel to President RICHARD M. NIXON during the WATERGATE scandal. As special counsel, St. Clair defended Nixon before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Com- mittee during its IMPEACHMENT hearings against the president and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Nixon did not have to turn over his secretly recorded White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. St. Clair was born on April 14, 1920, in Akron, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1941 and served in the U.S. Navy during WORLD WAR II . Following the war, St. Clair attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1947. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar that year and began work at Hale and Dorr, the most prominent law firm in Boston. St. Clair remained with the firm during his entire legal career. A skilled litigator, St. Clair assisted JOSEPH N. WELCH, a senior attorney with Hale and Dorr, at the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. These hearings marked a turning point in Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s four-year quest to expose supposed Communist subversion in the federal government. Welch, representing the U.S. Army, skillfully rebuffed McCarthy’s charges during the televised hearings. St. Clair returned to Washington, D.C., and political controversy in 1974, when Congress and a special criminal prosecutor moved aggres- sively to obtain information on Nixon’srole in the Watergate scandal. By early 1973, the botched 1972 BURGLARY of the Democratic Na- tional Committee’s offices in the Watergate building complex in Washington had been linked to members of Nixon’s campaign and White House staff. The revelation in the summer of 1973 that Nixon had secretly recorded all conversa- tions in the Oval Office led to demands by special prosecutor ARCHIBALD COX that Nixon surrender the tapes. Nixon refused, firing Cox. Cox’s repla- cement, LEON JAWORSKI, renewed the demand. Nixon then hired St. Clair to argue against disclosure of the tapes and to prevent the House of Representatives from voting impeachment GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 318 SPOUSAL ABUSE charges against the president. In the Judiciary Committee proceedings, St. Clair was permitted to hear the evidence, question witnesses, and present a defense. He argued that Nixon could be impeached only on hard proof that the president had commi tted serious criminal acts. Most committee members believed that a president might also be impeached for wrong- doing that was not strictly criminal. In July 1974, the committee approved impeachment resolutions that charged Nixon with assisting in the Watergate cover-up, abusing his powers, and failing to honor committee subpoenas for the White House tapes. As to the question of producing evidence, St. Clair argued that the doctrine of EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE gave Nixon the right to withhold the tapes. In UNITED STATES V. NIXON, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S. Ct. 3090, 41 L. Ed. 2d 1039 (1974), the Supreme Court ruled that the EXECUTIVE BRANCH was entitled to a presumptive, qualified privilege against disclosure of presidential communica- tions, but that the privilege was overcome by the prosecutor’s need for disclosure of those com- munications. Shortly after the Supreme Court decision, St. Clair learned that one of the 64 tapes in question included a conversation between Nixon and his chief of staff, H. R. (Harry Robbins) Haldeman, in which Nixon sought to stop the FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION from investigating the Water- gate burglary. The conversation, which took place a few days after the 1972 burglary, was the so-called smoking gun that proved Nixon had obstructed justice. St. Clair insisted that Nixon publish the tape. After its disclosure, Nixon’s political support vanished. He resigned on August 9, 1974, rather than face certain impeachment and removal from office. Following the Nixon debacle, St. Clair returned to Boston, where he continued to practice law at Hale and Dorr for another decade before retiring. He also was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and remained active in many civic and philanthropic organizations. In the early 1990s, St. Clair was again at the center of controversy when he was asked by Mayor Raymond L. Flynn to investigate Boston Police Department practices. St. Clair died at the age of 80 in Westwood, Massachusetts, on March 10, 2001. After his death, the Boston Bar Foundation renamed James Draper St. Clair. AP IMAGES James Draper St. Clair 1920–2001 ▼▼ ▼▼ 1925 2000 1975 1950 ❖ 1961–73 Vietnam War ◆ 1950–53 Korean War 1939–45 World War II 1920 Born, Akron, Ohio ◆ ◆ ◆ 1969–74 Richard Nixon served as U.S. president ◆ ◆❖ 1941 Graduated from University of Illinois 1947 Graduated from Harvard University Law School; joined Hale and Dorr in Boston 1954 Assisted Joseph Welch as counsel for the Army in the Army-McCarthy hearings 1956 Made senior partner at Hale and Dorr 1963–73 Served on the Town Meeting in Wellesley, Mass. 1974 Served as special counsel for Nixon during the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings; Nixon resigned 1985–94 Served as president of Horizons for Youth, a nonprofit group dedicated to the needs of underprivileged children 1995 Retired from law practice at Hale and Dorr 2001 Died, Westwood, Mass. [THE SUPREME COURT] HAS THE OBLIGATION TO DETERMINE THE LAW [REGARDING EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE ]. THE PRESIDENT ALSO HAS AN OBLIGATION TO CARRY OUT HIS CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES . —JAMES DRAPER ST. C LAIR GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION ST. CLAIR, JAMES DRAPER 319 their Federal Court Public Education Project the James D. St. Clair Court Education Project. The purpose of the program is to educate the general population, especially young people, about the workings of the justice system in the United States. FURTHER READINGS The James D. St. Clair Court Education Project. Available online at www.discoveringjustice.org (accessed March 15, 2010). STALE CHECK A document that is a promise to pay money that is held for too long a period of time before being presented for payment. A check is considered to be stale when it is outstanding for a period of six months or more. A bank is not obligated to pay a stale check. CROSS REFERENCE Commercial Paper. STALIN, JOSEPH Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union and the Communist party from 1929 to 1953. He used ruthless methods to consolidate his power and ruled the Soviet Union by terror. His actions shaped the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, leading to the COLD WAR after WORLD WAR II. Stalin was born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhu- gashvili on December 21, 1879, in Gori, now in the Republic of Georgia. He adopted the name Stalin, meaning “man of steel,” in 1910. The son of peasants, his academic prowess led to a scholarship at a theological seminary. While studying for the priesthood, he began reading the works of KARL MARX. He soon left the seminary and joined the Social-Democratic party in 1899. His revolutionary activities led to his arrest and exile to Siberia seven times between 1902 and 1913. He escaped six times. He aligned himself with the Bolshevik faction of the party, which was under the leadership of VLADIMIR ILYICH LENIN. Lenin named Stalin to the Bolshevik’s Central Committee in 1912 and in 1913 named him editor of the party newspaper, Pravda. He spent from 1913 until early 1917 in Siberian exile, retur ning to St. Petersburg to aid the Bolsheviks in overthrowing first the monar- chy and then the provisional government. The November 1917 Bolshevik revolution put Lenin in charge. Stalin became a top aid to Lenin and helped the regime in winning a civil war against those who opposed the Bolsheviks. In the early 1920s, Stalin began plotting to gain power. Before Lenin died in 1924, he expressed misgivings about Stalin’s use of power. Nevertheless, Stalin joined in a three- man leadership group, called a troika, to govern the Soviet Union after Lenin’s death. He quickly pushed aside all his rivals, including Leon Trotsky, and became the supreme ruler by 1929. During the 1930s Stalin collectivized all private farms in the Soviet Union and in the process sent a million farmers into exile. He embarked on a process of “russification,” which put minority nationalities under strict control of the national government. In 1939 , in concert with the Nazi government of ADOLF HITLER, Stalin invaded eastern Poland. In 1940 he conquered the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Stalin also encouraged the growth of COMMU- NISM throughout the world. The Communist party of the United States grew rapidly during the Great Depression of the 1930s, in the process raising questions whether the party was a mere tool of Stalin and the international Communist movement. As a result of concerns about Com- munist subversion, Congress enacted the SMITH ACT (54 Stat. 670) in 1940. The legislation required ALIENS to register and be fingerprinted by the federal government. More importantly, the act made it illegal not only to conspire to overthrow the government but to advocate or conspire to advocate its overthrow. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the act in Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494, 71 S. Ct. 857, 95 L. Ed. 1137 (1951). Stalin’s 1939 nonaggression pact with Hitler proved futile: Hitle r invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Stalin then aligned the Soviet Union with the United States and Great Britain in World War II. When the war in Europe ended in 1945, the Soviet Army occupied Eastern Europe and a large part of Germany. Stalin ignored agreements between the Allies and proceeded to impose Communist rule on these occupied countries. The United States and Great Britain per- ceived Stalin’s actions as attempts to force Communism on the world. In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union was captioned by the United GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 320 STALE CHECK States as the Red Menace, seeking to subvert democracy and capitalism. Stalin pushed the United States to the brink of a third world war when he ordered the blockade of Berlin in 1948 and 1949. Fears about Communism were further stirred by the arrest of JULIUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG in 1950 for providing the Soviet Union with secrets about the atomic bomb. To many people, the Rosenbergs were tools of Stalin and the Communist conspiracy. Other people, however, saw them as victims of political hysteria. The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953, yet several generations of historians have argued over their guilt or innocence. Stalin’s hard-line policies were met in kind by the West. In 1949 the United States created the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION, which committed U.S. forces to the defense of Europe. The outbreak of the KOREAN WAR in 1950, which was started by Communists in North Korea, led to the deployment of U.S. troops to stave off Communist aggression. Stalin’s determination to expand Soviet power and influence created the climate for the Cold War. The United States practiced a policy of containment, with the goal of preventing the spread of Communism. In his later years, Stalin literally rewrote the Soviet history books, turning himself into a heroic, godlike figure. Those who opposed him were exiled to Siberian labor camps or executed. Always suspicious of those around him, in 1953 he prepared to purge more party leaders. His plans were cut short, however, when he suffered a brain hemorrhage and died on March 5, 1953, in Moscow. Stalin’s methods were replicated by later Soviet leaders. The demise of European Com- munist regimes in the 1980s and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s signaled an end to Stalinism. FURTHER READINGS Gorlizki, Yoram, and Oleg Khlevniuk. 2003. Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. Lee, Stephen J. 1999. Stalin and the Soviet Union. New York: Routledge. Mawdsley, Evan. 2003. The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union 1929–1953. Manchester, N.Y.: Manchester Univ. Press. CROSS REFERENCES Communism; Red Scare. STALKING Criminal activity consisting of the repeated fol- lowing and harassing of another person. Stalking is a distinctive form of criminal activity composed of a series of actions that taken individually might constitute legal behavior. For example, sending flowers, writing love notes, and waiting for someone outside her place of work are actions that, on their own, are not criminal. When these a ctions are coupled with an in tent to instill fear or injury, however, they may constitute a pattern of behavior that is illegal. Though anti- stalking laws are gender neutral, most stalkers are men and most victims are women. Stalking first attracted widespread public concern when a young actress named Rebecca Shaeffer, who was living in California, was shot to death by an obsessed fan who had stalked her for two years. The case drew extensive media coverage and revealed how widespread a problem stalking was to both celebrity and noncelebrity victims. Until the enactment of anti-stalking laws, police had little power to arrest someone who behaved in a threatening but legal way. Even when the suspect had followed his victim, sent her hate mail, or behaved in a threatening manner, the police were without legal recourse. Law enforcement could not take action until the suspect acted on his threats and assaulted or injured the victim. In general, stalking victims are women from all walks of life. Some are trying to end a Joseph Stalin expanded the influence of the Soviet Union following World War II by refusing to withdraw Soviet forces from much of Germany and Eastern Europe. AP IMAGES GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3 RD E DITION STALKING 321 relationship with a man, often one who has been abusive. The persons involved may be married or divorced or may have been sexual partners. In other cases the stalker and the victim may know one another casually or be associated in an informal or formal way. For example, they may have had one or two dates or talked briefly but were not sexual partners, or they may be coworkers or former coworke rs. In a small number of situations, the stalker and the victim do not know one another. Cases involving celebrities and other public figures usually fall into this category. Advocates of battered women have esti- mated that up to 80 percent of stalking cases occur in a domestic context, though there is little data on how many stalkers and victims are former intimates, how many murde red women were stalked beforehand, or how many stalking incidents overlap with DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.Accord- ing to estimates provided by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, more than one million women and approximately 350,000 men are victims of stalkers each year. Research also indicates that teenagers are subjected to stalking and that they have difficulty extricating themselves from such situations. Stalkers may include a high school classmate or an older man with whom a teenager has developed a relationship. When a teenage stalker is involved, the victim may have difficulty convincing law enforcement and school officials that the behavior is more than adolescent “boys will be boys” conduct. The motivations for stalking are many. They include the desire for contact and control, obsession, jealousy, and anger and stem from the real or imagined relationship between the victim and the stalker. The stalker may feel intense attraction or extreme hatred. Many stalkers stop their activity when confronted by police intervention, but some do not. The more troublesome stalker may exhibit a personality disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, which leads him to devote an inordinate amount of time to writing notes and l etters to the intended target, tracking the victim’smovements,or traveling in an attempt to achieve an encounter. The potentially dangerous consequences and the terrifying helplessness victims experi- enced led to calls for legislation criminalizing stalking. California enacted the first anti- stalking law in 1990. Eventually, all 50 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation ILLUSTRATION BY GGS CREATIVE RESOURCES. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF GALE, A PART OF CENGAGE LEARNING. Activities Engaged in by Stalkers in 2008 66.2% 30.6% 34.3% 12.2% 24.2% 21.0% 15.0% 0 102030405060708090100 Attacked victim's pet or person other than victim Attacked victim Vandalized property Left unwanted presents Followed or spied on victim Sent unwanted letters or e-mail Made unwanted phone calls Percentage of cases a Total number of victims: 3,424,100 a Sum of percentages exceeds 100 because the questions allowed multiple responses. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Stalking Victimization in the United States, January 2009. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 322 STALKING that addresses the problem of stalking. Initially these laws varied widely, containing provisions that made the laws virtually unenforceable due to ambig uities and the dual requirements to show specific criminal intent and a credible threat. Many states have amended these stalking statutes to broaden definitions, refine wording, stiffen penalties, and emphasize the suspect’s pattern of activity. In most states, to charge and convict a defendant of stalking, several elements must be proved BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. These ele- ments include a course of conduct or behavior, the presence of threats, and the criminal intent to cause fear in the victim. A course of conduct is a series of acts that, viewed collectively, present a pattern of behav- ior. Some states stipulate the requisite number of acts, with several requiring the stalker to commit two or more acts. States designate as stalking a variety of acts, ranging from specifi- cally defined actions, such as nonconsensual communication or lying in wait, to more general types of action, such as harassment. Most states require that the stalker pose a threat or act in a way that causes a reasonable person to feel fearful. The thre at does not have to be written or verbal to instill fear. For example, a stalker can convey a threat by sending the victim black roses, forming his hand into a gun and pointing it at her, or delivering a dead animal to her doorstep. To be co nvicted of stalking in most states, the stalker must display a criminal intent to cause fear in the victim. Vario us statutes require the conduct of the stalker to be “willful,” “purposeful,”“intentional,” or “knowing.” Many states do not require proof that the defendant intended to cause fear as long as he intended to commit the act that resulted in fear. In these states, if the victim is reasonably frightened by the alleged perpetrator’s conduct, the intent element of the crime has been met. Defendants have challenged the constitu- tionality of anti-stalking statutes in many states. They alleged that the laws are so vague that they violate DUE PROCESS OF LAW or are so broad that they infringe upon constitutionally protected speech or activity. Generally the courts have rejected these arguments and have upheld the anti-stalking laws. Once a stalker is arrested, the prosecutor will ask the court to impose strict pretrial release conditions requiring the defendant to stay away from the victim. Violation of these conditions can lead to the revocation of bail and enhanced penalties at sentencing. Before a stalker is arrested, a victim may obtain a civil protection, or restraining, order that directs the defendant not to contact or come within the vicinity of the victim. If the defendant violates the protection order, a court may hold him in CONTEMPT, impose fines, or incarcerate him, depending on state law. In some states a stalking penalty is enhanced if the stalker violates a protective order. Protective orders can serve as the first formal means of intervening in a stalking situation. The order puts the stalker on notice that his behavior is unwanted and that if his behavior continues, police can take more severe action. However, enforcement of a protection order has proved difficult, leaving the victim with not much more than a legal document to try to restrain a violent stalker. Many states have both misdemeanor and felony classifications for stalking. Misdemeanors generally carry a jail sentence of up to one year. Felony sentences range from three to five years, with the ability to enhance the penalty if one or more elements are present. For example, if the defendant brandished a gun, violated a protec- tive order, committed a previous stalking offense, or directed his conduct toward a child, the sentence may be increased. In some states repeat offenses can result in incarceration for as long as ten years. At the federal level, a number of statutes have been enacted to protect victims of stalkers. These include the Full Faith and Protection provisions of the VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (18 U.S.C.A. § 2265–2266 [2000]), which mandate nationwide enforcement of orders of protection, including harassment and stalking, and the Interstate Stalking Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 2261A [1996]), which makes it a criminal offense to travel across state lines to stalk another person. The act also makes it a crime to stalk a person across state lines using mail, E-MAIL,ortheINTERNET. Such crimes are punish- able from five years to life in prison. Despite the nationwide awareness of stalking and the response of the criminal justice system, many women do not report these crimes to police. Failure to report stalking may be based on the private nature of the events and the belief GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION STALKING 323 that no purpose would be served by reporting the crime. Police departments and prosecutors have been criticized for continuing to minimize the seriousness of stalking and failing to provide adequate protection for victims. In addition, critics have claimed that courts are too lenient in sentencing stalkers. RESOURCES Davis, Joseph A., ed. 2001. Stalking Crimes and Victim Protection: Prevention, Intervention, Threat Assessment, and Case Management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Dennison, Susan M., and Donald M. Thomson. 2002. “Identifying Stalking: The Relevance of Intent in Commonsense Reasoning.” Law and Human Behavior 26 (October). Justice Department, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. 1996. “Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Antistalking Legislation” April 1996. Available online at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/ 160943.htm; website home page: http://www.ojp. usdoj.gov (accessed August 26, 2009). Lamplugh, Diana, and Paul Infield. 2002. “Harmonising Anti-Stalking Laws.” George Washington International Law Review 34 (winter). Miller, Neal, and Hugh Nugent. 2002. Stalking Laws and Implementation Practices: A National Review for Policy- makers and Practioners (Executive Summary). Alexan- dria, Va.: Institute for Law and Justice. Available online at http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/ilj_stalk/ iljexecsummary.pdf; website home page: http://www. mincava.umn.edu (accessed August 26, 2009). CROSS REFERENCE Victims’ Rights. STAMP ACT The Stamp Act was the English act of 1765 requiring that revenue stamps be affixed to all official documents in the American colonies. In 1765 the British Parliament, under the leader- ship of Prime Minister George Grenville, passed the Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the American colonies. The revenue measure was intended to help pay the debt incurred by the British in fighting the French and Indian War (1754–63) and to pay for the continuing defense of the colonies. Unexpectedly and to Parliament’sgreat surprise, the Stamp Act ignited colonial opposi- tion and outrage, leading to the first concerted effort by the colonists to resist Parliament and British authority. Though the act was repealed the following year, the events surrounding the tax protest became the first steps towards revolution and independence from England. By the mid-eighteenth century, the econo- mies of the American colonies had matured. The colonies chafed under the rules of British mercantilism, which sought to exploit the colonies as a source of raw materials and a market for the mother country. During the French and Indian War, the colonies asserted their economic independen ce by trading with the enemy, flagrantly defying customs laws, and evading trade regulations. These actions con- vinced the British government to bring the colonies into proper subordination and to use them as a source of revenue. The colonists had become accustomed to a limited degree of Britis h regulation of trade. The Navigation Acts of 1660, for example, stipulated that no goods or commodities could be imported into or exported out of any British colony except in British ships. Later legislation stipulated that rice, molasses, beaver skins, furs, and naval stores could be shipped only to England. Duties were also imposed on the shipment of certain articles, such as rum and spirits. However, the Stamp Act was the first direct tax, a tax on domestically produced and consumed items, that Parliament ever levied upon the colonists. The Stamp Act was designed to raise almost one-third of the revenue to support the military establishment permanently stationed in the colonies at the end of the French and Indian War. The act placed a tax on newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets and broadsides, legal docu- ments of all kinds, insurance policies, ship’s papers, licenses, and even playing cards and dice. These documents and objects had to carry a tax stamp. The act was to be enforced by stamp agents, with penalties for violating the act to be imposed by vice-admiralty courts, which sat without juries. Parliament passed the act without debate. Similar stamp acts had become an accepted part of raising revenues in England, leading parlia- mentary leaders to mistakenly believe that the measure would generate some grumbling but not defiance. The colonies thought otherwise, interpreting the Stamp Act as a deliberate at- tempt to undercut their commercial strength and independence. They were also concerned about the implicit assault on their rights to trial by jury, the unprecedented use of a direct tax as a means of raising imperial revenue, and the all- inclusive character of the law that applied to all 13 colonies. The colonists raised the issue of taxation without representation. Some colonists drew a GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 324 STAMP ACT distinction between the English regulation of trade, which was viewed as legal, and the English imposition of internal taxes on the colonies, which was perceived to be illegal. Theories and arguments against the Stamp Act were distrib- uted from assembly to assembly in the form of “circulars.” PATRICK HENRY introduced seven resolutions against the Stamp Act in the Virginia House of Burgesses, five of which were passed. All seven resolutions were reprinted in newspapers such as the Virginia Resolves. These and other pamphlets pressed Parliament to repeal the act. In October 1765 nine of the 13 colonies sent delegates to New York to attend the Stamp Act Congress. The congress issued a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” declaring that English subjects in the colonies had the same “rights and liberties” as the king’s subjects in England. The congress, noting that the colonies were not represented in Parliament, concluded that no taxes could be constitutionally imposed on them except by their own legislatures. Petitions em- bracing these resolutions were prepared for submission to the king, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. The Stamp Act also led to the formation of formal opposition groups in the colonies. The Sons of Liberty, which remained active until the American Revolution, grew directly out of the Stamp Act controversy. Often organized by men of wealth and standing in the community, Sons of Liberty groups were active in towns throughout the colonies, and their members often engaged in violent acts. In Boston, for example, an angry mob forced the stamp agent to resign. Colonial merchants also organized an effec- tive economic boycott, with merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia entering into nonimportation agreements. The drop in trade was dramatic, leading to the BANKRUPTCY of some London merchants. In addition, businesses flouted the act by carrying on their trade without purchasing the required stamps. The virulence of the opposition to the Stamp Act surprised the colonists as much as the British government. The costs of simply maintaining order in the colonies threatened to negate any economic advantages of the legisla- tion. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, as the colonial agent for Pennsylvania, testified before the House of Commons in early 1766 that any attempt to enforce the Stamp Act by the use of troops might bring on rebellion. His call for repeal was joined by a committee of English merchants, which cited the dire economic consequences the act was producing. When Grenville’s govern- ment fell from power, the new prime minister, Marquis of Rockingham, moved quickly to resolve the issue. In February 1766 the repeal of the Stamp Act was approved by the House of Commons. The House of Lords, under pressure from the king, approved the repeal as well, which became effective in May 1766. Neverthe- less, in the Declaratory Act of March 1766, Parliament ominously asserted that it had full authority to make laws that were legally binding on the colonies. England’s need for revenue and Parlia- ment’s conviction that it alone, in the empire, was sovereign did not end with the repeal of the Stamp Act. New and harsher laws were enacted in succeeding years, producing a pre- dictable reaction from the colonies. The full significance of the Stamp Act crisis is that it served as the initial event unifying all the colonies in their resistance to parliamentary authority. The opponents to the act laid a theoretical foundation for later revolutionary thought in their elaboration of the doctrine of consent by the governed. The act led to the creation of enduring resistance groups, such as the Sons of Liberty, which were capable of springing into Colonists protest the Stamp Act of 1765 by burning Stamp Act papers in Boston. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3 RD E DITION STAMP ACT 325 action at the least provocation. And it estab- lished precedents for later resistance, including the use of a congress, the issuance of ci rculars, the resort to legislative resolves, and the adoption of economic sanctions. Most importantly, the Stamp Act crisis made the colonists more aware of the identity of their interests, which would ultimately lead them to think of themselves as “Americans.” FURTHER READINGS Morgan, Edmund S., and Helen M. Morgan. 1995. The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press. Thomas, Peter David Garner. 1975. British Politics and the Stamp Act Crisis: The First Phase of the American Revolution 1763–1767. New York: Clarendon Press. Worek, Michael and Jordan Worek. 2008. An American History Album: The Story of the United States Told Through Stamps. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. CROSS REFERENCES Continental Congress; Declaration of Independence; Paine, Thomas; “Stamp Act” (Appendix, Primary Document); Townshend Acts; War of Independence. STAMP TAX A pecuniary charge imposed upon certain trans- actions. A stam p tax is, for example, levied when ownership of real property is transferred. The tax is paid either by pu rchasing stamps that are then glued to the deed or by the use of metering machines that imprint the stamps on the deed. v STANBERY, HENRY Henry Stanbery served as attorney general of the United States from 1866 to 1868 under Presi- dent ANDREW JOHNSON. Stanbery, the son of Jonas Stanbery, a physician, was born February 20, 1803, in New York. He moved with his family from New York to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1814. An excellent student, Stanbery required greater academic challenge than early Zanesville schools could provide. Recognizing his scholastic apti- tude, his father made arrangements for him to attend Washington College, in Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1819 at the age of 16. Stanbery studied law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1824 when he came of age. The same year, he entered into practice with Thomas Ewing, an attorney from Lancaster County, Ohio. They worked together for more than twenty years and handled a wide variety of cases. Stanbery’s growing prominence in the Ohio courts made him a natural candidate for public office. He dissolved his longtime partnership with Ewing in 1846 and moved to Columbus to serve as Ohio’s first attorney general. He also served as a delegate to the convention that framed the Ohio state constitution in 1851. After the constitutional convention, Stanbery reestablished his private practice—first in Cincinnati (1853) and later in northern Kentucky (1857). He maintained an active law practice throughout the U.S. CIVIL WAR. After the Civil War, Stanbery became emb- roiled in the conflict and controversy surround- ing Johnson’s presidency. Johnson supported the policies of reconstruction and reconciliation favored by the late president ABRAHAM LINCOLN, but his efforts were met with strong opposition from Radical Republicans in the Senate. John- son’s first attorney general, JAMES SPEED, resigned in 1866 when he could no longer support presidential initiatives. ▼▼ ▼▼ Henry Stanbery 1803–1881 18001800 18501850 18751875 19001900 18251825 ❖ 1803 Born, New York City ◆ 1814 Moved to Zanesville, Ohio ◆ 1819 Graduated from Washington College (Pa.) ◆ ◆ 1824 Admitted to the bar; entered private practice 1846 Became Ohio's first attorney general 1861–65 U.S. Civil War ◆ ◆ 1851 Served as a delegate to the convention that framed the Ohio state constitution 1853 Established private law practice in Cincinnati ◆ 1857 Moved law pratice to northern Kentucky ◆◆ ❖ 1881 Died, New York City 1868 Resigned as attorney general; served as counsel for Johnson during impeachment proceedings 1866 Became U.S. attorney general under President Johnson THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT SILENT .IT PROVIDES FOR INSURRECTION , WHETHER SMALL OR GREAT ; WHETHER IN ONE STATE OR MANY . —HENRY STANBERY GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 326 STAMP TAX Amid this turmoil, Stanbery was asked to step in, and acc epted the post of attorney general. Almost immediately, he was nomi- nated by Johnson to fill a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice JOHN CATRON . M ost senators liked the new attorney general and recognized him to be an able lawyer, but Radical Republicans were deter- mined to prevent the confirmation of any nominee p ut forth by Johnson. To ensure that Johnsonwouldnotbeabletofillthevacancy, the Senate enacted legislation to reduce the number of High Court justices from ten to seven as vacancies occurred. Accordingly, the seat for which Stanbery had been considered in April 1866 was abolished, and his nomination was never considered. Although 63 years old and in failing health, Stanbery served Johnson as a loyal and active attorney general. Prior to Stanbery’s appoint- ment, the president had vetoed early CIVIL RIGHTS legislation and was eager to restore full jurisdiction to Southern state courts. As attor- ney general, Stanbery supported Johnson by refusing to encourage enforcement of the CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS or providing any guidance to U.S. attorneys seeking to implement them. When Johnson faced IMPEACHMENT by the Senate in March 1868, Stanbery resigned his office to serve as the president’scounsel.So poor was Stanbery’s physical health during Johnson’s impeachment trial that he submitted most of his arguments in writing. Upon ter- mination of the trial, Johnson sought to re- appoint his friend and counse l as attorney general, but the Senate rejected Stanbery’s reinstatement. Stanbery remained in Washington, D.C., for the next few years and continued to participate in high-profile cases of the Reconstruction Era—including a number of cases that tested the constitutionality of the government’s crimi- nal prosecutions of the KU KLUX KLAN. In the mid-1870s Stanbery returned to Ohio and served a short term as president of the Cincinnati Bar Association. In retirement, he wrote occasionally on political and legal topics, but he devoted most of his time to the management of his vast property holdings. The year before his death, a newspaper account identified him as the largest property owner in Campbell County, Kentucky. Stanbery died in New York on June 26, 1881. FURTHER READINGS Kaczorowski, Robert J. 1990. “The Common-Law Back- ground of Nineteenth-Century Tort Law.” Ohio State Law Journal 51 (November). Lane, Charles. 2008. The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction. New York: Henry Holt and Co. Lawlor, John M. 1986. “Court Packing Revisited: A Proposal for Rationalizing the Timing of Appointments to the Supreme Court.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 134 (April). STAND To stand is to appear in court or to submit to the jurisdiction of the court. To stand trial, for example, means to try, or be tried on, a particular issue in a particular court. To stand in recess, means the judge leaves the bench, and there is a break in the pro- ceedings. To stand adjourned, means either the court ends proceedings for the day or that the particular proceeding is concluded. STAND MUTE The state of affairs that arises when a defendant in a criminal action refuses to plead either guilty or not guilty. When a defendant stands mute, the court will generally order a not guilty plea to be entered. STANDARD DEDUCTION The name given to a fixed amount of money that may be subtra cted from the adjusted gross income of a taxpayer who does not itemize certain living expenses for INCOME TAX purposes. STANDING Standing is the legally protectible stake or interest that an individual has in a dispute that entitles him to bring the controversy before the court to obtain judicial relief. Standing, sometimes referred to as standing to sue, is the name of the federal law doctrine that focuses on whether a prospective PLAINTIFF can show that some personal legal interest has been invaded by the DEFENDANT. It is not enough that a person is merely interested as a member of the general public in the resolution of the dispute. The person must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION STANDING 327 . 192 0–2001 ▼▼ ▼▼ 192 5 2000 197 5 195 0 ❖ 196 1–73 Vietnam War ◆ 195 0–53 Korean War 193 9–45 World War II 192 0 Born, Akron, Ohio ◆ ◆ ◆ 196 9–74 Richard Nixon served as U.S. president ◆ ◆❖ 194 1 Graduated from University of Illinois 194 7. January 20 09. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 322 STALKING that addresses the problem of stalking. Initially these laws varied widely, containing provisions that made the laws virtually. interested as a member of the general public in the resolution of the dispute. The person must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION STANDING