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LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

plain error

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A quick definition of plain error:

Plain error is a mistake that is very obvious and affects someone's important rights. Even if the mistake wasn't pointed out before, a higher court can still fix it if not doing so would make the court look bad. This is especially important in criminal cases. To decide if there is a plain error, the court looks at four things: 1) was there a mistake, 2) was it really obvious, 3) did it hurt the person's rights, and 4) is it important to fix the mistake to make sure the court is fair? If all four things are true, the court can fix the mistake. This is different from a harmless error, which doesn't hurt someone's rights and can be ignored.

A more thorough explanation:

Plain error is a mistake that is clearly evident from the record and affects a person's important rights. It can be corrected by an appellate court even if it was not brought up during the trial. This is done to ensure that the court's decisions are fair and just.

For example, if a judge miscalculates a person's sentence and gives them a longer sentence than they should have received, this would be a plain error. The appellate court can correct this mistake to make sure the person is not unfairly punished.

There are four criteria that must be met for an error to be considered plain:

  1. There must be an error that was not waived by the person affected.
  2. The error must be clear and obvious.
  3. The error must have affected the person's important rights.
  4. The error must have seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or reputation of the court's decision.

It is important to note that not all errors are considered plain errors. Harmless errors, which do not affect important rights, are not corrected by appellate courts.

plagiarism | Plain Feel Doctrine

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MIAMI A
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:55
How does one know if they are UR1 or UR2?
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:56
CONGRATS MACAQUE!
TY
got a random stanford email and almost had a heart attack
ALSO CONGRATS!
Congrats1!
21:15
Miami A, yall I'm so excited I could cry.
21:15
Feel like I can finally stop holding my breath!! Whew!!!
[] baddestbunny
22:16
every time I get accosted by a strange man who follows me around because my male coworkers were too busy talking to walk me back to my car I get closer to saying we need to bring back traditional gender roles
Dkk
22:32
Nice! @Macaque
Dkk
22:32
@Aromatic, Have to guess.
Dkk
22:33
That sucks @Bunny do you have to go to the hospital?
[] baddestbunny
22:40
I said accosted not assaulted
23:35
guys. my notre dame address just went long is this good or bad
1a2b3c4d26z
23:37
Oooooo me too
23:37
omg is this good or bad
Dkk
23:47
Idk if gender roles are gunna fix that then.
23:49
it looks like most people who applied in october last cycle didn't get a decision until january... does it even mean anything that our addresses went long??
hows ED 2 compared to ED 1?
Dkk
0:10
No idea
windyMagician
0:34
reporting live to say my ndls address also went long
does it mean anything ^
Dkk
2:21
NDLS and Fordham took a very long time last year. It's good info for people to know.
[] baddestbunny
4:29
let’s get after it boys and girls
Dkk
5:21
I gtg to bed soon.
Dkk
5:22
Big day today. Gunna be a crazy one. I will sleep through the first half.
good morning lsd it is 5 am EST
also jazzy my ndls address went long ages ago i sadly do not think it means anything
my stanford address also went long LOL i think at most it's an indicator it's under review
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