Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of nullifying or the state of being nullified.
  • noun The action by a state not to enforce a federal law as improperly encroaching on the scope of state power.
  • noun A theory justifying such action.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of nullifying; a rendering void and of no effect, or of no legal effect; specifically, in U. S. hist., the action of a State intended to abrogate within its limits the operation of a federal law, under the assumption of absolute State sovereignty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of nullifying; a rendering void and of no effect, or of no legal effect.
  • noun (U. S. Hist.) the right claimed in behalf of a State to nullify or make void, by its sovereign act or decree, an enactment of the general government which it deems unconstitutional.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of nullifying; a rendering void and of no effect, or of no legal effect.
  • noun removal

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the states'-rights doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a federal law passed by the United States Congress
  • noun the act of nullifying; making null and void; counteracting or overriding the effect or force of something

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Secondly, unless you are trusting in nullification, the jury will convict: Grandpa did indeed give the gun to Joey across state lines.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Mayor Bloomberg’s gun show bill 2010

  • Yes, jury nullification is technically illegal, but nobody ever gets convicted of it.

    Matthew Yglesias » Breitbart on Podesta 2010

  • Secondly, unless you are trusting in nullification, the jury will convict: Grandpa did indeed give the gun to Joey across state lines.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Mayor Bloomberg’s gun show bill 2010

  • Jury nullification is the common law principle that permits juries to refuse to convict somebody who is demonstrably guilty of violating the law.

    Waldo Jaquith - On jury nullification. 2006

  • The existence of and availability of jury nullification is an essential element of maintaining the legitimacy of the system.

    Waldo Jaquith - On jury nullification. 2006

  • Within the context of informing juries about the sentencing range that will result from a “guilty” verdict, the group acknowledged that jury nullification is a power inherent to the jury, as well as the existence of the debate over whether juries should be informed about the power.

    Waldo Jaquith - On jury nullification. 2006

  • On Jefferson's birthday some of the people who believed in nullification gave a dinner to which Jackson was invited and asked to propose a toast.

    This Country of Ours: The Story of the United States Henrietta Elizabeth 1917

  • At this point disunion was in full flower, and the terms nullification, secession, treason, rebellion, revolution, coercion, constitute the current political vocabulary.

    Abraham Lincoln A History Nicolay, John G & Hay John 1890

  • At this point disunion was in full flower, and the terms nullification, secession, treason, rebellion, revolution, coercion, constitute the current political vocabulary.

    Abraham Lincoln, a History — Volume 02 John George Nicolay 1866

  • Calhoun, perhaps the state's most celebrated national figure, turned this instinct into a policy - "nullification" - in the decades before the

    NYT > Home Page 2009

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