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Abolitionism The movement to end slavery in America. -
Abraham Lincoln The 16th president, known for winning the civil war against the Confederacy and abolishing slavery. He was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathiser. The Economist covered the crime, calling it “perhaps the greatest and most lamentable” event, possibly since Waterloo. Read our editorial leader from 1865. -
Absentee voting Ballots that are not cast in person, usually by post (“mail-in ballots”). The practice in America dates back to the 17th century, before independence, and was adopted on a large scale for soldiers during the American civil war. It became politicised after Donald Trump falsely suggested, in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, that it led to rampant fraud (proven voter fraud is vanishingly rare). In the wake of Mr Trump’s defeat some states, such as Georgia and Texas, passed laws restricting absentee voting. Read our article from 2021 on America’s battle over election laws. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA) Flagship legislation passed by Barack Obama (often called “Obamacare”) that expanded health-care coverage. It created exchanges so that eligible Americans could purchase, at subsidised rates, private health-care plans, and it expanded Medicaid eligibility in most states. The original law included the “individual mandate”, which required people to pay a tax penalty if they did not have basic health-care coverage. That part was repealed in 2017, under Donald Trump. Read our explainer on why Republicans hate Obamacare. -
American court system State courts hear cases involving violations of state law; federal courts hear cases involving violations of federal law or the constitution. They have similar tripartite structures: trial courts (called district courts in the federal system) are courts of first hearing. A party dissatisfied with the trial court’s ruling can ask a state appellate court, if one exists, or federal court of appeals to review the decision. That ruling can then be appealed to a state supreme court, or America’s Supreme Court, which also adjudicates disputes between states—though it accepts just a fraction of cases. -
American Indian law A term that covers the relationship between federal and state governments and the governments ofNative American tribes, or “nations”, as well as the laws enacted by tribal governments. Tribes recognised by the federal government hold the power—granted by treaties and acts of Congress, among other rulings—to govern themselves (subject to federal law) and have Indian tribal courts, which deal with everything from environmental protections to criminal justice. In 2022 we wrote about Oklahoma’s tussle with Indian tribes. -
Amicus brief Formally titled an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief, these are filed by parties with a strong interest in the outcome of a legal decision but who are not part of the case. For instance, in 303 Creative LLC v Elenis, in which the Supreme Court held that Colorado could not compel a Christian website-designer to create wedding websites for gay couples because she claimed that doing so would violate her religious beliefs, amicus briefs were filed by, among others, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which argued that religious beliefs should not be used to deny equal service to gay couples; and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which argued the opposite. -
Attorney-general The attorney-general is the head of the Department of Justice and is America’s…
This article was originally published by a www.economist.com . Read the Original article here. .