Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A specific class or kind of thing within a larger general class. The term identifies a distinct variety or category that shares defining traits with others in its broader group but remains separable for legal analysis.
PayLink routes online loan payments from State X residents to out-of-state lenders. The platform's digital transfers constitute one species of commercial intercourse that crosses state lines and affects multiple markets. Federal regulators therefore possess authority to oversee the network and displace conflicting state rules.
The Journal compiles the schedule and contents of its Heard column before publication. That schedule is a species of property in which the newspaper holds an exclusive right. Equity therefore protects the Journal against misappropriation by an employee who leaks the information.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An indictment must state all facts and circumstances that constitute the offense with certainty. This precision allows the defendant to determine the species of offense charged and to prepare a defense accordingly. A vague charging instrument fails this requirement and cannot support a valid conviction.
A city ordinance limits occupancy of single-family homes to narrowly defined nuclear families. The extended family pattern represents another species of family arrangement that serves the same role in raising successive generations. The ordinance cannot constitutionally prohibit this species of living arrangement.
Environmental plaintiffs challenge federal funding of overseas projects that threaten foreign wildlife. The injury to members who study or observe a particular species supplies the concrete interest required for standing. Without such a connection to a specific species, the suit cannot proceed.
A performer sues a broadcaster for televising his entire human-cannonball act without consent. The damages action is not a species of liability without fault because the station knew of the performer's objection yet aired the complete performance. The state may therefore award compensation without violating the First Amendment.
It denotes a distinct class or kind of thing that belongs to a broader category. Courts employ the word to separate one variety of legal object or activity from others that share the same general genus.
The clause reaches every species of commercial intercourse among the states. This formulation confirms that Congress may regulate all varieties of economic activity that cross state lines or affect more than one state.
No. The word retains its ordinary sense of a particular class or kind. In those opinions it simply identifies confidential business information as one species of property or a right-of-publicity claim as one species of liability.
The defendant must know with certainty which variety of crime is charged so that a defense can be prepared and the judgment predicted. An indictment that fails to specify the species of offense is constitutionally deficient.
…a more leisurely age or the nuclear family of today the role of the family in raising and training successive generations of the species makes it more important, we dare say, than any other social or legal institution . . . . If any freedom not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights enjoys a preferred position' in…