Also known as: right · due · rectitude
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A right or legal due.
A tribute or payment owed under law.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A right or legal due.
Rosalind Reed shot her neighbor during a delusional episode. She believed the act was morally justified but could not recognize that society viewed it as wrong. The court denied acquittal because she retained capacity to understand societal condemnation, so she lacked the rectitudo to claim the insanity defense.
Ryan Roberts pledged his ranch to Redwood Bank through a deed of trust. The bank held title as trustee until repayment. Upon default Roberts retained the rectitudo to redeem the property before foreclosure.
A tribute or payment owed under law.
Rhea Reynolds sued for damages exceeding twenty dollars in federal court. The Seventh Amendment preserved her rectitudo to a jury trial, and no court could reexamine the jury's factual findings except under common-law rules.
Rajesh Rao left a firm whose partnership agreement barred him from practicing in the same city for two years. The agreement violated Rule 5.6 because it improperly restricted his rectitudo to practice after termination.
Roger Ramirez, an agent, failed to discover facts a person of ordinary intelligence would have known through due care. The principal could hold him accountable because Ramirez lacked the rectitudo to claim ignorance of what ordinary diligence would reveal.
Raymond Ramos, a tenant entitled to terminate, vacated the premises and notified the landlord of his decision. Because he followed the required steps, his rectitudo to end the lease became effective under the Restatement rule.
It denotes a right or legal due, including any tribute or payment owed under law.
Rectitudo refers to an enforceable legal right or due, not merely an ethical assertion.
…whether such commissions had been in the office or not could not be a confidential fact; it is a fact which all the world have a right to know. If he thought any of the questions improper he might state his objections. Mr. Lincoln prayed time till the next day to consider his answers and the court granted it. The next…