Also known as: laws of a general nature · general law · general laws
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statute or rule that applies throughout a jurisdiction to all persons or places of a specified class rather than being limited to particular localities or individuals. Such a law remains general even when it affects only one member of the covered class at the time of enactment provided its terms extend to the entire class.
Lamar Lewis, a member of a Native American church, was fired after using peyote during a religious ceremony. State officials denied his unemployment claim under a criminal prohibition that applied equally to every person in the state. Because the prohibition was a law of general nature, the denial did not require a religious exemption.
Luna Lang obtained a final judgment in State A requiring a defendant to restore wetlands. When she sought enforcement in State B, the court applied the Full Faith and Credit Clause to the judgment. The underlying rule was a law of general nature that bound parties throughout State A.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Liam Larson and a partner were prosecuted under a state sodomy statute that criminalized certain private acts for all adults. The statute was a law of general nature, so its enforcement did not single out any particular group or location.
Layla Lane filed a federal diversity suit after a state statute of limitations had run. The court treated the limitations rule as a law of general nature that applied uniformly to all litigants in the state courts and therefore governed the federal action as well.
Lorenzo Lugo’s children refused to salute the flag in public school under a statewide compulsory flag-salute regulation. The regulation was a law of general nature that applied to every student, so the children’s religious objection did not automatically exempt them from compliance.
Lakeshore Industries operated a coal mine subject to a statewide statute that prohibited mining methods causing surface subsidence. The statute was a law of general nature that applied to all mining operations in the state, so the company could not claim a special exemption based on its particular location.
A law of general nature applies to an entire class of persons or places throughout the jurisdiction. A special law instead targets particular individuals or localities and therefore receives different constitutional treatment in many states.
No. The Free Exercise Clause does not relieve individuals from complying with neutral, generally applicable laws that only incidentally burden religious practices. A state may therefore enforce such laws without providing religious exemptions.
A state must enforce a final judgment from a sister state when the judgment was properly rendered under the rendering state's law. The enforcing state may not reopen the merits simply because its own law would produce a different result.
…no statute of the State on the subject, the railroad's duty and liability is to be determined in federal courts as a matter of general law. The trial judge refused to rule that the applicable law precluded recovery. The jury brought in a verdict of $30,000; and the judgment entered thereon was affirmed by the Circuit Court of…