v OTTO, WILLIAM TOD William Tod Otto served as the reporter of decisions for the U.S. Supreme Court from 1875 to 1883. A distinguished law yer, judge, and government administrator before his appoint- ment as reporter, Otto is also noted for successfully arguing before the Supreme Court the case of Murdock v. City of Memphis, 87 U.S. (20 Wall.) 590, 22 L. Ed. 429 (1875), which resolved issues concerning the jurisdiction of the Court. Otto was born on January 19, 1816, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned a bache- lor’s degree in 1833 a nd a master’sdegreein 1836 from the University of Pennsylvania. Otto studied law in Philadelphia and then moved to Brownstown, Indiana, to open a private practice. In 1844 he was elected a judge of Indiana’s Second Circuit court, a position he held until his defeat in the election of 1852. From 1847 to 1852, Otto also taught law at Indiana University. Despite his election defeat, Otto remained interested in public office. Although he lost an election in 1858 for Indiana attorney general, he had the good fortune of supporting ABRAHAM LINCOLN for president at the 1860 Republican convention. President Lincoln named Otto assistant secretary of the interior in 1863. In this post Otto administered Indian affairs. He left the department in 1871 to serve as arbitrator for claims against Spain from U.S. citizens living in its colony of Cuba. In 1875 Otto argued Murdock v. Memphis, 20 Wall. 590 (1875), before the Supreme Court. The case concerned cong ressional changes to section 25 of the JUDICIARY ACT OF 1789, which granted appellate authority to the Supreme Court over federal question cases from the state courts (those cases involving federal constitu- tional or statutory issues) but excluded ques- tions of state law from review by the Court. This meant that state courts had the final and unreviewable authority over the interpretation of the state constitution and laws. However, in the 1867 reenactment of section 25, Congress omitted the provision containing this exclusion. Murdock raised the question of whether the U.S. Supreme Court could now review questions of state law. The Court agreed with Otto, conclud- ing that Cong ress’s failure to clearly state its intent to radically change the scope of federal jurisdiction prevented the Court from inferring intent. William Tod Otto. COLLECTION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 1914–18 World War I William Tod Otto 1816–1905 ▼▼ ▼▼ 1800 1850 1875 1900 1925 1825 ❖ ❖ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ 1905 Died, Philadelphia, Pa. 1914–18 World War I 1885 Served as U.S. representative to the Universal Postal Congress in Lisbon, Portugal 1871 Served as arbitrator for claims against Spain by U.S. citizens living in Cuba 1875 Argued Murdock v. Memphis before the Supreme Court 1861–65 U.S. Civil War ◆ 1858 Lost election for Indiana attorney general 1863 Appointed assistant secretary of the interior 1847–52 Taught law at Indiana University 1844–52 Served as judge on Indiana's Second Circuit Court 1836 Earned M.A. from University of Pa. 1816 Born, Philadelphia, Pa. ◆ 1875–83 Worked as reporter/editor of decisions for the U.S. Supreme Court GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 378 OTTO, WILLIAM TOD Shortly after the Murdock decision, Otto was appointed reporter of decisions, succeeding JOHN WILLIAM WALLACE . He was the first reporter to issue Supreme Court reports without his name appearing on the spine of each volume. Previous reporters had acted as their own publishers and distributors; thus they were entitled to use their names in marketing the volumes of court decisions. In 1874, however, Congress appropri- ated money for publishing the Court’s opinions under government auspices. Otto, though hardly anonymous, assembled the reports for publica- tion by the government. Between 1875 and 1883, Otto edited 17 volumes (91–107 United States Reports). He left the position to resume a private law practice and served as U.S. representative to the Universal Postal Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1885. Otto died on November 7, 1905, in Philadelphia. OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT An agreement reached between the parties in a pending lawsuit that resolves the dispute to their mutual satisfaction and occurs without judicial intervention, supervision, or approval. An out-of-court settlement provides that the parties relinquish their rights to pursue judicial remedies. OUTLAWRY A declaration under old English law by which a person found in CONTEMPT on a civil or criminal process was considered an outlaw—that is, someone who is beyond the protection or assistance of the law. During the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, a person who committed certain crimes lost whatever protection he or she had under the law, forfeited whatever property he or she owned, and could be killed by anyone. If the crime committed was TREASON or a felony, a declaration of outlawry was tantamount to a conviction and attainder. Outlawry for a misde- meanor did not, however, amount to a convic- tion for the offense. The Norman Conquest led to significant changes in the law governing outlawry, eventually leading to its abolition. OUTPUT CONTRACT In the law of sales, an agreement in which one party assents to sell his or her total production to another party, who agrees to purchase it. The quantity is measured by the seller’soutput,andthis type of contract assures the seller of an purchaser for his/her goods for the length of the contract. This type of contract does not entail an ILLUSORY PROMISE, a purported agreement that actually means nothing because it leaves to one party the choice of performance or nonperfor- mance, even if the quantity of goods that are the subject of the contract is indefinite. It is also known as an entire output contract, and it is subject to the UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE, a body of law adopted by the states that governs commercial transactions. CROSS REFERENCE Requirements Contract. OUTSTANDING WARRANT An order that has not yet been carried out; an order for which the action commanded has not been taken. A well-known example is an outstanding arrest warrant When the action ordered has been done, the warrant is said to have been exe cuted. CROSS REFERENCE Arrest Warrant. OVERBREADTH DOCTRINE A principle of JUDICIAL REVIEW that holds that a law is invalid if it punishes constitutionally protected speech or conduct along with speech or conduct that the government may limit to further a compelling government interest. Legislatures sometimes pass laws that infringe on the FIRST AMENDMENT freedoms of religion, speech, press, and peaceable assembly. When a legislature passes such a law, a person with a sufficient interest affected by the legislation may challenge its constitutionality by bringing suit against the federal, state, or local sovereignty that passed it. One common argument in First Amendment challenges is that the statute is overbroad. Under the overbreadth doctrine, a statute that affects First Amendment rights is uncon- stitutional if it prohibits more protected speech or activity than is necessary to achieve a compelling government interes t. The excessive intrusion on First Amendment rights, beyond what the government had a compelling interest to rest rict, renders the law unconstitutional. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION OVERBREADTH DOCTRINE 379 If a statute is overbroad, the court may be able to save the statute by striking only the section that is overbroad. If the court cannot sever the statute and save the constitutional provisions, it may invalidate the entire statute. The case of Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc., 472 U.S. 491, 105 S. Ct. 2794, 86 L. Ed. 2d 394 (1985), illustrates how the overbre adth doctrine works. At issue in Brockett was an OBSCENITY statute passed by the state of Washington. The statute declared to be a moral NUISANCE any place where lewd films were shown as a regular course of business and any place where lewd publications constituted a principal part of the stock in trade. Lewd matter was defined as being obscene matter, or any matt er that appeals to the prurient interest. Under the statute the term prurient was defined as tending to incite lasciviousness or lust. The Supreme Court in Brockett ruled that the Washington statute was overbroad because it prohibited lust-inciting materia ls. According to the Court, because lust is a normal sexual appetite, materials that include an appeal to lust enjoy First Amendment protection. Therefore, a statute that prohibits any material arousing lust is constitutionally overbroad. The remedy in the Brockett case was not complete invalidation of the moral nuisance law. The Court directed that the reference to lust be excised from the statute and stated that the rest of the statute was valid. The statute, though originally overbroad, was still valid because it contained a severability clause and was still effective after its overbroad portion was struck. CROSS REFERENCES Compelling State I nterest; Freedom of Speech; Freedom of the Press. OVERDRAFT A check that is drawn on an account containing less money than the amount stated on the check. Terms of various accounts may provide for potentially high fees for excess expenditures. The term overdraft is also used in reference to the condition that exists when VOUCHERS or purchase orders are drawn in amounts exceed- ing the amount that has been appropriated or budgeted. As of late 2009, Congress was considering reform legislation that would offer consumers stronger overdraft protection at a time when many are finding banks’ overdraft fees to be excessive or even unknown to account holders. For exmaple, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) sponsored a bill and called for measures that would require banks to disclose overdraft fees at the time when new accounts are opened and also keep fees proportional to the amount of the overdraft. CROSS REFERENCE Commercial Paper. OVERHEAD A sum total of the administrative or executive costs that relate to the management, conduct, or supervision of a business that are not attributable to any one particular product or department. Some of these outlays may be deductible as business expenses. Certain overhead also may figure in the funds paid to court-appointed lawyers as a matter of reimbursement for render- ing public legal services. Expenses such as rent, taxes, insurance, lighting, heating, and other miscellaneous office expenses all fall under the category of overhead. FURTHER READINGS National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Victory! Overhead Payments Restored in Alabama!” http:// www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/alabama004 (accessed September 29, 2009). OVERREACHING Exploiting a situation through FRAUD or UNCONSCIO- NABLE conduct. Prosecutorial overreaching takes place when the government, through either gross negligence or deliberate action, causes heightened circumstances that prejudice a defendant, leading to the reasonable conclusion that the further continuance of the now-tainted case would result in a conviction. OVERRIDE Money, in the form of a commission, paid to a manager from a sale that is made by a subordinate. Also, a commission paid to a REAL ESTATE agent who lists a property that, after the expiration of the listing, is sold directly by the owner to a buyer with whom the agent had previously negotiated. Override also means to prevail over, nullify, or set aside, as in a presidential VETO. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 380 OVERDRAFT OVERRULE The refusal by a judge to sustain an objection set forth by an attorney during a trial, such as an objection to a particular question posed to a witness. To make void, annul, supersede, or reject through a subsequent decision or action. A judicial decision is overruled when a later decision, made by the same tribunal or a higher court in the same system, hands down a decision concerning the identical QUESTION OF LAW , which is in direct opposition to the earlier decision. The earlier decision is thereby over- ruled and deprived of its authority as precedent. OVERSTREET V. UNITED BROTHERHOOD See SECONDARY BOYCOTT. OVERT Public; open; manifest. The term overt is used in CRIMINAL LAW in reference to conduct that moves more directly toward the commission of an offense than do acts of planning and preparation that may ultimately lead to such conduct. OVERT ACT An open, manifest act from which criminality may be implied. An outward act done in pursuance and manifestation of an intent or design. An overt act is essential to establish an attempt to commit a crime. It is also a key element in the crime of TREASON and has become a component of federal and some state criminal CONSPIRACY la ws. It also plays a role in the right of SELF-DEFENSE. An attempt to commit a crime is an offense when the accused makes a substantial but unsuccessful effort to commit a crime. The elements of attempt include an intent to commit a crime, an apparent ability to complete the crime, and an overt act. An overt act is an act that is performed to execute the criminal intention and will naturally achieve that result unless prevented by some external cause. The act must directly move toward commission of the crime and must be more than acts of planning or preparation. Defining when an act is more than prepara- tory has proved difficult. Two tests have been most frequently applied to determine when an overt act has been commit ted. The “unequivocal” test states that a defendant’s act, standing alone, constitutes an “overt act” only when that act is unequivocally consistent only with her or his intent to commit the allegedly attempted crime. This test has been criticized as too lenient on criminals because no act is truly unequivocal. A person who shoots someone several times can argue that she was only trying to injure the victim and that it was her skilled shooting and not luck that prevented the victim’s death. Some jurisdictions favor the “substantial act” test. Under this test, an overt act is committed when a DEFENDANT with the requisite criminal intent performs a substantial act toward the commission of the crime. Under this test, for example, a prospective burglar can be convicted of attempted BURGLARY if appre- hended in an alley with burglar’s tools, even though he had not determined which building he was going to burglarize. The need for an overt act is also required in federal and in some state criminal conspiracy prosecutions. A conspiracy is a voluntary agreement by two or more persons to commit an unlawful act or to use unlawful means to accomplish an act that is not in itself unlawful. Under federal law, the overt act must be an independent act that comes after the agreement or conspiracy and is performed to effect the objective of the conspiracy. The overt act itself need not be a criminal act, because its sole function is to demonstrate that the conspiracy is operative. If, for example, two persons conspire to rob a bank and rent a getaway car, the rental is an overt act that in itself is perfectly legal. According to federal CASE LAW, an overt act performed by any one conspirator is deemed to be an overt act committed by all conspirators, even in the absence of proof of any agreement directing the overt act (United States v. McKee, 506 F.3d 225 [3d Cir. 2007]). Proof of an overt act may also be required in criminal cases w here a defendant asserts self- defense against HOMICIDE or ASSAULT charges. To justify use of a deadly weapon in self-defense under the law in most states, there must have been an overt act by the victim that led the defendant to reasonably believe that he was in imminent danger of losing his life or suffering serious bodily injury; words and a “threatening attitude” are not, by themselves, enough. Threatening words or a threatening attitude must be accompanied with or followed by some GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION OVERT ACT 381 overt act or demonstration of an immediate intention to execute the threats. The federal crime of treason contains a requirement of an overt act. Article III, Section 3, Clause 1, of the U.S. Constitution provides, “No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act.” In such a case, an overt act means a step taken to execute a treasonable purpose, as distinguished from mere words or a treasonable sentiment or design not resulting in action. It is an act in furtherance of the crime. According to the U.S. SUPREME COURT, “It is the nature of the overt act that is important. The act may be unnecessary to a successful completion of the enemy’s project; it may be an abortive attempt; it may in the sum total of the enemy’s effort be a casual and unimportant step. But if it gives aid and comfort to the enemy at the immediate moment of its performance, it qualifies as an overt act within the constitutional standard of treason” (Tomoya Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717, 72 S. Ct. 950, 96 L. Ed. 1249 [1952]). FURTHER READINGS Burkoff, John M. 2009. Acing Criminal Law: A Checklist Approach to Criminal Law. St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson/ West. Pillsbury, Samuel H. 2009. How Criminal Law Works: A Conceptual and Practical Guide. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press. CROSS REFERENCES Conspiracy; Criminal Law; Overt; Treason. OWNER The person or other entity the law recognizes as having the ultimate control over, and right to use, property as long as the law permits and no agreement or covenant limits his or her or its rights. An owner could even be a public entity, for example, as in the case of public land or structures. The subject of ownership could be a piece of land, a CHATTEL, a business interest (such as a SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP or a stake in a PARTNERSHIP or CORPORATION), or any INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (such as a COPYRIGHT, PATENT, TRADEMARK,orTRADE SECRET). An owner, whose position is per se manifested in a set of property rights, will have STANDING to sue in the event that another party somehow contra- venes any such rights in question, such as through TRESSPASS or INFRINGEMENT. Just as ownership implies rights on the part of the owner, it may also imply particular duties, such as the prompt payment of property taxes associated with the ownership of real property. FURTHER READINGS Bernhardt, Roger and Burkhart, Ann M. 2005. Real Property in a Nutshell. 5th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West. Burke, Barlow. 2003. Personal Property in a Nutshell. 3d ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West. OYER AND TERMINER [French, To hear and decide.] The designation “court of oyer and terminer” is frequently used as the actual title, or a portion of the title, of a state court that has criminal jurisdiction over felonious offenses. By the commission of oyer and terminer, the commissioners (in practice the judges, though other persons are named with them in the commission) are commanded to make diligent inquiry into all treasons, felonies, and misdemeanours committed in the counties specified in the commission, and to hear and determine the same according to law. The inquiry is by means of the GRAND JURY; after the grand jury has found the bills submitted to it, the commissioners proceed to hear and deter- mine by means of the PETIT JURY. The words “oyer and terminer” are also used to denote the court which has jurisdiction to try offences within the limits to which the commission of oyer and terminer extends. In the United States, oyer and terminer is the name either currently or formerly given to courts of criminal jurisdiction in some states, including Pennsylvania and Georgia. New York had courts of oyer and terminer for much of the nineteenth century, but these courts were abolished by a change in the state constitut ion, effective in 1896. Governor William Phips created a court of oyer and terminer for the SALEM WITCH TRIALS, which was dissolved in 1693 when the trials were reflected upon and disapproved. One of the courtmen, Increase Mather, stated that “It is better that 10 suspected witches escape than that one innocent person killed.” OYEZ [French, Hear ye.] A word used in some courts by the public crier to indicate that a proclamation is about to be made and to command attention to it. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 382 OWNER PACIFIC RAILROAD ACT The Pacific Railroad Act was passed by Congress in 1862 to facilitate the construction of a railway that would stretch from the one coast of the United States to the other. The need for a transcontinental railway to facilitate transportation of persons and products across the United States became increasingly clear as the western half of the United States grew rapidly during the middle part of the nineteenth Century. Texas was annexed in 1845, whereas present-day states of California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming were acquired following the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). Congress responded to this growth by granting rights of way to railroads through PUBLIC LANDS, a logical outgrowth of rights of way granted for canals in the earlier years of the republic. In 1850 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS championed land grants beyond tradi- tional rights of way as an added incentive to the construction of railroads on public lands. Those land grants provided readily available resources such as timber and stone for the construction of the rail lines themselves. The opening of the West as an adjunct to railway development, however, came to full fruition with the passage of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 (12 STATUTES AT LARGE, 489), which was signed into law by President ABRAHAM LINCOLN on July 1, 1862. Officially entitled “AN ACT to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes,” some provisions of the original act were subsequently modified, expanded, or repealed by four additional amending acts passed in 1862, 1864, 1865, and 1866. Also known as the Pacific Railway Act, it provided incentives for the creation of a rail line beginning at the 100th meridian, near Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and working westward across the High Plains east of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The act offered the Union Pacific Railway and the Central Pacific Railroad ten sections (6,400 acres) on alternating sides of the track and a 30-year loan of government bonds, scaled at $16,000, $32,000, and $48,000 per mile of road built, depending upon the difficulty of the terrain. The railroads would receive every alternate section of land—the od d numbered sections—for ten sections in width on either side of the track. Two years later, Congress amended the act to make it more generous still, doubling the LAND GRANT to 12,800 ac res per mile of rail laid. The Union Pacific Railway laid track west from Omaha, while the Central Pacific Railroad built east from Sacramento. The Union Pacific Railway was granted 12 million acres of land and was issued $27 million in bonds. The Central Pacific Railroad was given 9 million ac res of land and was issued $24 million in bonds. On May 10, 1869, the P 383 nation commemorated the completion of the project, as the Union Pacific Railway and the Central Pacific Railroad joined together at a ceremony where a golden spike was driven into the tie at Promontory Point, Utah. In reality, however, it was not until 1870 that a seamless transcontinental track was completed, con- necting at a place called Comanche Crossing, Colorado, subsequently renamed Strasburg in honor of John Strasburg of the Kansas Pacific Railway. In all, Congress granted nearly 94 million acres of public lands to the railroads themselves and nearly an additional 224 million acres to states for development of lands served by railroad expansion. Of the approximately 320 million acres of total land grants, 30 percent or 97 million acres were located in those western states that became chiefly associated with coal mining: Ar izona (18.3 million acres); Colorado (8.2 million acres); Montana (20.7 million acres); New Mexico (16.2 million acres); North Dakota (13.9 million acres); Utah (9.7 million acres); and Wyoming (10.1 millio n acres). The Union Pacific Railway and the Central Pacific Railroad were merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1900 by Edward Harriman. CROSS REFERENCE Railroad. PACIFISM Pacifism is a belief or policy in opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes. Pacifists maintain that unswerving non violence can bestow upon people a power greater than that achieved through the use of violent aggression. Over time, pacifism has acquired different meanings. As a consequence, it is practiced in a variety of ways. For example, pacifists may make an individual vow of nonviolence. They may also organize and actively pursue nonvio- lence and peace between nations. They may even assert that some form of support for selective violence is sometimes necessary to achieve worldwide peace. History An early record of pacifism appears in the teachingsofSiddharthaGautama,whocameto be known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One. Siddhartha left his family at a young age and spent his life searching for a release from the human condition. Before dying in northeast India between 500 and 350 B.C., the Buddha taught the paths to elevated existence and inspired a new religion. Buddhism eventually spread from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, and the United States. The teachings of Jesus continued the attachment of nonviolence to organized reli- gion. Jesus taught, in part, that an appropriate response to violence is to “turn the other cheek” and offer no resistance. As civilization expanded and distinct states were formed, this Christianity was carried to developing areas. It became popularized as the official religion of entire states, the leaders of which sought to retain both Christianity and a stronghold on power. In the third century, the nonresistance aspect of Christianity was recon- sidered, and certain passages in the Gospel were interpreted to mean that resistance is an acceptable reaction to evil forces. Saint Augustine solidified Christianity’s break with pure pacifism in the fifth century with a warmly received religious treatise. In The City of God, he maintained, in part, that peace could be realized only through the acceptance of Christianity and that followers should defend the Church. More than a millennium passed before the next great pacifist movement was seen. In the fifteenth century, Martin Luther led the Protes- tant Reformation, a movement of new religious fervor. Europeans who were disenchanted with Catholicism broke away from the Church in Rome, experimented with observations and practices, and founded their own religions. The most pacific of these was Anabaptism. Anabaptists practiced nonviolence and actively supported those suffering from violence. In the seventeenth century, still more pacific religious groups were established, such as the Mennonites, the Brethren, and the Religious Society of Friends. Of these, the Friends have gathered the largest following in the United States. Religious Society of Friends In 1652 George Fox founded the Religious Society of Friends in England. Initially, Friends were known as Children of the Light, Publishers of Truth, or Friends of Truth. They believed that there exists in all persons a light, which can be understood as the presence of God. With GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 384 PACIFISM this reverence for other people, nonviolence came naturally. Because God exists in all people, violence can be avoided by finding and revealing the Light in others. Friends were also called Quakers, perhaps from the trembling some experience as they find the Inner Light during meetings. The nickname was originally coined by antagonists and intended as derisive, but many Friends began to use it in their own speech. Quaker soon los t its derogative connotation, and it remains the most recognized name for Friends. AFriends’ commitment to pacifism often came with no small dose of activism. Friends interrupted church services and refused to take oaths in seventeenth-century England, arguing that if one always tells the truth, one need not promise to do so. Friends ignored social niceties; they refused, for example, to remove their hats in the presence of royalty. Friends also used the informal thee and thy in place of the more respectful you and your. Within four years of the creation of the Society, Friends in England were being imprisoned by the thousands, and they began to seek refuge in the New World. Ann Austin and Mary Fisher were the first Friends to reach colonial America from England. After their arrival in 1656, Austin and Fisher were imprisoned and deported. Friends who came after them suffered a similar fate. Many of those who stayed moved to Rhode Island, which Roger Williams founded on religious freedom principles. In 1681 Charles II gave to William Penn, a longtime Friend, the charter to colonial land in America as repayment for a debt owed to Penn’s father. In 1682 Penn founded Pennsylvania as a “holy experiment,” and many English and European Friends found permanent sanctuary there. Friends continued their activism in colonial America by obstructing the business of SLAVERY. Many Friends published their opposition to slavery and assisted fugitive slaves. Friends also addressed other social issues, such as the treatment of mentally ill persons and the rights of women. With the onset of the Civil War, many Friends reconsidered their absolute re- fusal to participate in war and helped the Union forces and slaves. In World Wars I and II, many Friends took an active part in medical and relief work. Mohandas K. Gandhi MOHANDAS K. GANDHI was the first great modern pacifist. Born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, Gandhi led a high-profile life dedicated to political and social reform through nonvio- lence. During the 1900s Gandhi experimented with various means of resolving conflict. Passive resistance, according to Gandhi, had to be supplemented by an active effort to understand and respect adversaries. In an atmosphere of respect, people could find peaceful, creative solutions. This active campaign for equality is called satyagraha,or“grasping for the truth.” Gandhi led a well-orchestrated political campaign for Indians in South Africa through the early 1900s. The movement reached its pinnacle in November 1913, when Gandhi led Indian miners on the Great March into Transvaal. The march was a profound show of determination, and the South African govern- ment opened negotiations with Gan dhi shortly thereafter. By promoting a variety of nonviolent activities designed to dramatize and call atten- tion to social injustice, Gandhi won new rights for laborers, members of minorities, and poor people in South Africa and India. In many cases, however, Gandhi was working against centuries of hatred, and success was never absolute. During an early 1970s anti-war rally in New York City, members of the Religious Society of Friends (aka Quakers) read the names of people killed in the Vietnam War. HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3 RD E DITION PACIFISM 385 Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement Gandhi’s campaigns became the inspiration and model for the U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS and political movements in the 1950s and 1960s. Among those inspired by Gandhi was MARTIN LUTHER KING JR . King was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929, the son of a Baptist preacher. His Baptist upbringing was supplemented by the study of theology at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was introduced to the nonviolent teachings of Gandhi. In 1955 King became involved with the first great pacifist movement in the United States, the African American CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.He eventually spearheaded that movement. On December 1, 1955, ROSA PARKS, a black Mont- gomery resident, refused to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. Her subsequent arrest for violating SEGREGATION laws sparked a boycott of the Montgomery transit system led by King and the black activists of the Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott lasted over one year, until the Montgomery city government abolished segregation on buses. King’s leadership had helped effect political change without the use of violence, and he resolved to build on the success. In the late 1950s King organized the SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (SCLC). The SCLC operated as a network for civil rights work and a platform from which to address the nation and the world. Armed only with fortitude, the moral rightness of a cause, and an exceptional gift for public speaking, King was able to garner widespread support for a series of popular campaigns that led to the end of official DISCRIM INA TI ON and segregation in the southern United States. The influence of Gandhi on King was apparent. At the core of King’s philosophy was nonviolence, but this pacifism was buttressed by action. Like Gandhi, King directed much of his energy toward the organization of nonviolent campaigns designed to call attention to social injustice. The campaigns did not always win the hearts and minds of other U.S. citizens. Occa- sionally, King and fellow civil rights activists suffered from the violence of their opponents. Conscientious Objector Status When the United States becomes involved in war, military service may become mandatory, and the status of CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR (CO) is sought by pacifists to avoid military service. To qualify as a CO, one need only show “asincere and meaningful” objection to all war (Reiser v. Stone, 791 F. Supp. 1072 [E.D. Pa. 1992][quoting Shaffer v. Schlesinger, 531F.2d124(3dCir. 1976)]). This objection need not be grounded in religion. It is legitimate if it results from an “intensely personal” conviction that some might find “incomprehensible; or “incorrect” (Reiser [quoting United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 85 S. Ct. 850, 13 L. Ed. 2d 733 (1965)]). In Reiser, Dr. Lynda Dianne Reiser sought discharge from military service on the grounds of a conscientious objection to war. Reiser had entered the Army in 1983 in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program at Washington and Jefferson College. After gradu- ating in 1986, she so ught and received a Though better known for challenging injustices in British- ruled India, Gandhi also spent many years working for the rights of Indian residents of South Africa. AP IMAGES GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3 RD E DITION 386 PACIFISM deferment of military service in order to attend Temple University Medical Sch ool. Upon graduation from medical school in 1990, Reiser sought and received another deferment in order to perform a one-year medical internship. In August 1990, Reiser informed the Army that she was a conscientious objector and that she would refuse the four years of military service required of her in return for the ROTC scholarship. Although Reiser had possessed moral con- victions approaching pacifism before entering the ROTC program, she had envisioned a career in medicine and expected her participation in military service to be minimal. In 1985 serious misgivings over military service began to take hold in Reiser. By 1989 her opposition to military service was firm. After treating a 16-year-old shooting victim, Reiser experienced nightmares and attempted to avoid all contact with violence. In April 1990 her beliefs crystallized into complete opposition to violence, war, and military service. Four months later, she applied for CO status. The Department of the Army Conscientious Objector Review Board (DACORB) denied Reiser’s application in September 1990. Despite supporting testimony from Army chaplai n Colonel Ronald Miller and Army investigator Lieutenant Colonel Charles Nester, DACORB concluded that Reiser’s belief in pacifism was not sincerely held. Reiser appealed the DACORB decision to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After reciting the chronology of the case and the legal standards for CO status, the court conducted a complete review of the record, which included an in-depth examina- tion of Reiser’s evolution to pacifism. In addition to possessing a predisposition to nonviolence, Reiser had undergone a pacific metamorphosis that had not been disproved. Reiser had been deeply affected by the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse Five (1969) and had had her growing pacifism affirmed by roommates. She had also experienced a strengthening of her nonviolent convictions as a result of her medical training. DACORB had ruled that Reiser had failed to prove that she would have “no rest or inner peace” if she were not discharged. This standard had been rejected by the court in an earlier case, which held that consc ientious objectors need only show sincerity in their opposition to war (Masser v. Connolly, 514 F. Supp. 734, 740 [E.D. Pa. 1981]). According to the Reiser court, the “no rest or inner peace” standard was valid, but nothing in the record supported the DACORB conclusion that Reiser would lose no sleep over forced military service. Because the timing of a CO application alone cannot be used to deny CO status, DACORB took pains to deemphasize the timing of Reiser’s application. However, Reiser’s application came less than one year before she was scheduled to begin military service, and DACORB was unable to let the issue go untouched. The timing of the application, admitted DACORB, called Reiser’s sincerity into question. DACORB use of application timing did call Reiser’s sincerity into question. What DACORB failed to do, according to the court, was answer the question of Reiser’s sincerity. Without additional support for its skepticism, DACORB use of application timing as a basis for rejecting CO status for Reiser carried no weight. The court ultimately reversed the DACORB decision and relieved Reiser of her obligation to work four years for the U.S. Army. FURTHER READINGS Beck, Sanderson. 2003. Guides to Peace and Justice: Great Peacemakers, Philosophers of Peace, and World Peace Advocates. Ojai, Calif.: World Peace Communications. Martin Luther King Jr. at the August 1963 March on Washington. Gandhi’s campaigns became the inspiration and models used by King and other civil rights leaders during the 1950s and 1960s. AP IMAGES GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3 RD E DITION PACIFISM 387 . reporter/editor of decisions for the U.S. Supreme Court GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 378 OTTO, WILLIAM TOD Shortly after the Murdock decision, Otto was appointed reporter of decisions,. had a compelling interest to rest rict, renders the law unconstitutional. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION OVERBREADTH DOCTRINE 379 If a statute is overbroad, the court may be able. followed by some GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION OVERT ACT 381 overt act or demonstration of an immediate intention to execute the threats. The federal crime of treason contains