Sections
Article 380 Sentencing in General 380.10 – 380.97
Article 390 Pre-Sentence Reports 390.10 – 390.60
Article 400 Pre-Sentence Proceedings 400.10 – 400.40
Article 410 Sentences of Probation, Conditional Discharge and Parole Supervision 410.10 – 410.91
Article 420 Fines, Restitution and Reparation 420.05 – 420.45
Article 430 Sentences of Imprisonment 430.10 – 430.30

Terms Used In New York Laws > Criminal Procedure > Part 2 > Title L - Sentence

  • Academic year: shall mean the regular school year beginning July first and ending June thirtieth. See N.Y. Education Law 651
  • Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
  • Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • agency: means a county hurricane protection, flood and shoreline erosion control agency. See N.Y. County Law 280-A
  • Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Approved plan: as used in this article means a plan of library service by a public library system approved by the commissioner subsequent to May first, nineteen hundred fifty-eight. See N.Y. Education Law 272
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Bailiff: a court officer who enforces the rules of behavior in courtrooms.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Bequest: Property gifted by will.
  • Board: shall mean the board of trustees of the New York state higher education services corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
  • Chambers: A judge's office.
  • Charge to the jury: The judge's instructions to the jury concerning the law that applies to the facts of the case on trial.
  • Commission: shall mean the empire state plaza art commission created by this article. See N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law 4.03
  • Commissioner: means the head of the office of mental health. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 7.03
  • commissioner: means the head of the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 13.03
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of correction in a city having a population of one million or more or that official having similar duties in any county which elects to have this article apply thereto, by whatever title he may be known. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of mental health or the commissioner of developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Community services program: means a program under which eligible incarcerated individuals may be granted the privilege of leaving the premises of an institution for a period not exceeding fourteen hours in any day for the purpose of participation in religious services, volunteer work, or athletic events, or for any matter necessary to the furtherance of any such purposes. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Corporation: shall mean the New York state higher education services corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
  • Correctional facility: means a correctional facility as that term is defined in § 2 of the correction law. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Counsel for respondent: means any counsel that has been retained or appointed for respondent, or if no other counsel has been retained or appointed, or prior counsel cannot be located with reasonable efforts, then the mental hygiene legal service. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • Dangerous sex offender requiring confinement: means a person who is a detained sex offender suffering from a mental abnormality involving such a strong predisposition to commit sex offenses, and such an inability to control behavior, that the person is likely to be a danger to others and to commit sex offenses if not confined to a secure treatment facility. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the applicable department of correction or, where no such department exists, the office of the commissioner. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • Designated felony: means any felony offense defined by any of the following provisions of the penal law: assault in the second degree as defined in section 120. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Detained sex offender: means a person who is in the care, custody, control, or supervision of an agency with jurisdiction, with respect to a sex offense or designated felony, in that the person is either:

    (1) A person who stands convicted of a sex offense as defined in subdivision (p) of this section, and is currently serving a sentence

    for, or subject to supervision by the division of parole, whether on parole or on post-release supervision, for such offense or for a related offense;

    (2) A person charged with a sex offense who has been determined to be an incapacitated person with respect to that offense and has been committed pursuant to Article 730 of the criminal procedure law, but did engage in the conduct constituting such offense;

    (3) A person charged with a sex offense who has been found not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect for the commission of that offense;

    (4) A person who stands convicted of a designated felony that was sexually motivated and committed prior to the effective date of this article;

    (5) A person convicted of a sex offense who is, or was at any time after September first, two thousand five, a patient in a hospital operated by the office of mental health, and who was admitted directly to such facility pursuant to article nine of this title or § 402 of the correction law upon release or conditional release from a correctional facility, provided that the provisions of this article shall not be deemed to shorten or lengthen the time for which such person may be held pursuant to such article or section respectively; or

    (6) A person who has been determined to be a sex offender requiring civil management pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03

  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • director of community services: means the director of community services for the mentally disabled appointed pursuant to article eleven of this chapter. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
  • director of community services: means the director of community services for the mentally disabled appointed pursuant to article forty-one of this chapter. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 9.01
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • district: means a county hurricane proection, flood and shoreline erosion control district except where otherwise stated. See N.Y. County Law 280-A
  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Educational leave: means a privilege granted to an eligible incarcerated individual to leave the premises of an institution for a period not exceeding fourteen hours in any day for the purpose of education or vocational training, or for any matter necessary to the furtherance of any such purposes. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Eligible incarcerated individual: means a person confined in a city prison or reformatory in a city having a population of one million or more or in a county jail and penitentiaries of a county which elects to have this article apply thereto where a furlough program has been established who is sentenced to a definite period of six months or more or to a reformatory sentence of imprisonment and has served a minimum of six months of any such sentence. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Eligible incarcerated individual: means : a person confined in an institution who is eligible for release on parole or who will become eligible for release on parole or conditional release within two years. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Eligible incarcerated individual: means a person sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment who will become eligible for release on parole within three years or sentenced to a determinate term of imprisonment who will become eligible for conditional release within three years, who has not reached the age of fifty years, who has not previously been convicted of a violent felony as defined in article seventy of the penal law, or a felony in any other jurisdiction which includes all of the essential elements of any such violent felony, upon which an indeterminate or determinate term of imprisonment was imposed and who was between the ages of sixteen and fifty years at the time of commission of the crime upon which his or her present sentence was based. See N.Y. Correction Law 865
  • Eligible offender: shall mean a person who has been convicted of a crime or of an offense, but who has not been convicted more than once of a felony. See N.Y. Correction Law 700
  • emergency financial control board: shall mean any such board established by state law for the municipality, and the term "covered organization" shall mean any such organization as defined in the act declaring that a state of financial emergency exists for such municipality. See N.Y. Local Finance Law 85.00
  • Empire state plaza: shall mean the Governor Nelson A. See N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law 4.03
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
  • Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
  • Extended bounds of confinement: means the area in which an incarcerated individual participating in a furlough program may travel, the routes he or she is permitted to use, the places he or she is authorized to visit, and the hours, days, or specially defined period during which he or she is permitted to be absent from the premises of the institution. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Extended bounds of confinement: means the area in which an incarcerated individual participating in a temporary release program may travel, the routes he or she is permitted to use, the places he or she is authorized to visit, and the hours, days, or specially defined period during which he or she is permitted to be absent from the premises of the institution. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Felony: means a conviction of a felony in this state, or of an offense in any other jurisdiction for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of one year, or a sentence of death, was authorized. See N.Y. Correction Law 700
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • fiscal agent: as used in this title shall mean:

    1. See N.Y. Local Finance Law 70.00

  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
    • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
    • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
    • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
  • Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Furlough committee: means the body of persons which may include members of the public, appointed pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner for the purposes of formulating, modifying and revoking furlough programs at an institution. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Furlough program: means a program under which eligible incarcerated individuals may be granted the privilege of leaving the premises of a prison for a period not exceeding seventy-two hours for the purpose of seeking employment, maintaining family ties, solving family problems, to undergo surgery or to receive medical treatment or dental treatment not available in the correctional institution, or for any matter necessary to the furtherance of any such purposes. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
  • Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • governing body: means the elected legislative body of the county. See N.Y. County Law 280-A
  • Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. Source: OCC
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
  • Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
  • in need of care and treatment: means that a person has a mental illness for which in-patient care and treatment in a hospital is appropriate. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 9.01
  • in need of involuntary care and treatment: means that a person has a mental illness for which care and treatment as a patient in a hospital is essential to such person's welfare and whose judgment is so impaired that he is unable to understand the need for such care and treatment. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 9.01
  • Industrial training leave: means a privilege granted to an eligible incarcerated individual to leave the premises of an institution for a period not exceeding fourteen hours in any day for the purpose of participating in an industrial training program, or for any matter necessary to the furtherance of any such purpose. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Institution: means any institution under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of correction in any city having a population of one million or more or of a county which elects to have this article apply thereto. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Institution: means any institution under the jurisdiction of the state department of corrections and community supervision or an institution designated by the commissioner pursuant to section seventy-two-a of this chapter. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
  • Juror: A person who is on the jury.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Licensed psychologist: means a person who is registered as a psychologist under Article one hundred fifty-three of the education law. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • likely to result in serious harm: means (a) a substantial risk of physical harm to the person as manifested by threats of or attempts at suicide or serious bodily harm or other conduct demonstrating that the person is dangerous to himself or herself, or (b) a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by homicidal or other violent behavior by which others are placed in reasonable fear of serious physical harm. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 9.01
  • local sponsor: shall mean any municipality, district or school district, as defined in the general municipal law, or any combination thereof. See N.Y. Education Law 272
  • Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
  • Mental abnormality: means a congenital or acquired condition, disease or disorder that affects the emotional, cognitive, or volitional capacity of a person in a manner that predisposes him or her to the commission of conduct constituting a sex offense and that results in that person having serious difficulty in controlling such conduct. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
  • Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. Source: OCC
  • need for retention: means that a person who has been admitted to a school pursuant to this article is in need of involuntary care and treatment in a school for a further period. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 15.01
  • obligations: shall mean bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness. See N.Y. Local Finance Law 131.00
  • Office: means the office of mental health. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 7.03
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Petty offense: A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. Source:
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • Presentence report: A report prepared by a court's probation officer, after a person has been convicted of an offense, summarizing for the court the background information needed to determine the appropriate sentence. Source: U.S. Courts
  • President: shall mean the president of the corporation. See N.Y. Education Law 651
  • Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Psychiatric examiner: means a qualified psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist who has been designated to examine a person pursuant to this article; such designee may, but need not, be an employee of the office of mental health or the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • public library system: as used in this article means:

    (1) A library established by one or more counties. See N.Y. Education Law 272

  • qualified psychiatrist: means a physician licensed to practice medicine in New York state who: (a) is a diplomate of the American board of psychiatry and neurology or is eligible to be certified by that board; or (b) is certified by the American osteopathic board of neurology and psychiatry or is eligible to be certified by that board. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 9.01
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
  • reference and research library resources system: as used in this article means a duly chartered educational institution resulting from the association of a group of institutions of higher education, libraries, non-profit educational institutions, hospitals, and other institutions organized to improve reference and research library resources service. See N.Y. Education Law 272
  • released: means release, conditional release or discharge from confinement, from community supervision by the department of corrections and community supervision, or from an order of observation, commitment, recommitment or retention. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
  • Respondent: means a person referred to a case review team for evaluation, a person as to whom a sex offender civil management petition has been recommended by a case review team and not yet filed, or filed by the attorney general and not dismissed, or sustained by procedures under this article. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Secure treatment facility: means a facility or a portion of a facility, designated by the commissioner, that may include a facility located on the grounds of a correctional facility, that is staffed with

    personnel from the office of mental health or the office for people with developmental disabilities for the purposes of providing care and treatment to persons confined under this article, and persons defined in paragraph five of subdivision (g) of this section. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03

  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Sex offender requiring civil management: means a detained sex offender who suffers from a mental abnormality. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Sex offender requiring strict and intensive supervision: means a detained sex offender who suffers from a mental abnormality but is not a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Sex offense: means an act or acts constituting: (1) any felony defined in Article one hundred thirty of the penal law, including a sexually motivated felony; (2) patronizing a person for prostitution in the first degree as defined in section 230. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Sexually motivated: means that the act or acts constituting a designated felony were committed in whole or in substantial part for the purpose of direct sexual gratification of the actor. See N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law 10.03
  • Shock incarceration program: means a program pursuant to which eligible incarcerated individuals are selected to participate in the program and serve a period of six months in a shock incarceration facility, which shall provide rigorous physical activity, intensive regimentation and discipline and rehabilitation therapy and programming. See N.Y. Correction Law 865
  • shoreline: means the lands between high and low water mark, the lands contiguous or adjacent to the high water mark, beaches, dunes and bluffs. See N.Y. County Law 280-A
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Superintendent: means the person in charge of an institution, by whatever title he or she may be known. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Temporary release committee: means the body of persons, which may include members of the public, appointed pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner to serve at the pleasure of the commissioner for the purpose of formulating, modifying and revoking temporary release programs at an institution. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Temporary release program: means a "work release program" a "furlough program" a "community services program" an "industrial training leave" an "educational leave" or a "leave of absence. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
  • Uphold: The decision of an appellate court not to reverse a lower court decision.
  • Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
  • Warden: means the person in charge of an institution by whatever title he may be known. See N.Y. Correction Law 631
  • Work release program: means a program under which eligible incarcerated individuals may be granted the privilege of leaving the premises of an institution for a period not exceeding fourteen hours in any day for the purpose of on-the-job training or employment, or for any matter necessary to the furtherance of any such purposes. See N.Y. Correction Law 851
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.