Also known as: natio · nations · national · nationals · nationality · nationalities · nationalization · nationalizations · nationalize · nationalized · nationalizing · nationality law · nation-state
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A sovereign political community possessing independent government and territory.
Nile Shipping, a U.S. carrier, seeks to import goods from a foreign port. Congress enacts a tariff that applies uniformly. The statute operates under the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, so the tariff takes effect and Nile Shipping must pay the duties to clear the cargo.
Judge Nolan Nunez presides over a contract dispute involving a litigant from a particular foreign nation. During the hearing the judge makes remarks disparaging that nation. The conduct manifests bias against a sovereign political community and violates the rule against such statements in judicial duties.
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In a boundary dispute, Nyah Ndlovu offers testimony that community members have long described a river as the historic dividing line between two states within the nation. The reputation arose before the controversy and concerns a general historical event important to the nation, so the court admits the evidence under the hearsay exception.
Nordic Ventures operates waste facilities in several states within the nation. Congress extends wage and hour rules to all such facilities, including those run by state governments. The extension rests on the commerce power and is upheld because states participate in the federal political process rather than through limits on traditional governmental functions.
Attorney Nina Nielsen represents a client in a discrimination case and refers to opposing counsel by reference to the counsel's nation of origin in a derogatory manner. The judge orders Nielsen to cease the remarks because lawyers must refrain from manifesting bias against a sovereign political community in the proceeding.
Judge Nigel Nelson belongs to a private club that excludes members based on national origin from a particular nation. The membership constitutes invidious discrimination on the basis of national origin from a sovereign political community, so the judge must resign from the organization to comply with the judicial conduct rule.
Article I Section 8 grants Congress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and to define and punish offenses against the law of nations. These clauses treat a nation as a sovereign political entity with which the United States maintains formal relations.
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The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act defines state to include an Indian nation or tribe. This usage recognizes tribes as distinct political communities possessing attributes of sovereignty within the federal system.
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Federal Rule of Evidence 803(20) permits reputation evidence arising before the controversy concerning general historical events important to the nation. The exception treats the nation as the broadest political community whose shared history carries reliability.
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…and economic fact, and the statesmen who founded this Nation knew too well that only a stagnant society remains unchanged." National Mutual Ins. Co. v. Tidewater Transfer Co. , 337 U. S. 582, 646 (dissenting opinion). Several decisions of this Court make clear that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and…