artificial structures or buildings on it. A
landowner can enforce the right to lateral
support in court. A lawsuit for the removal of
lateral support accrues when the damage occurs,
not when the excavation is done.
An adjoining landowner who excavates
close to his or her boun dary line has a duty to
prevent injury arising from the removal of the
lateral support of a neighbor’s property. Because
the right to lateral support is considered an
absolute
PROPERTY RIGHT, an adjoining landowner
will be liable for damages to the natural
condition of the land regardless of whether or
not he or she acted negligently.
When, however, a landowner has erected
buildings on the land, his or her right to recover
for deprivation of the lateral support is differ-
ent. Because additional weight has been placed
on the land, thus increasing the burden on the
lateral support, the landowner can be award ed
damages for injuries to the building caused by
excavation only if his or her neighbor has been
negligent. Sometimes local ordinances require
that persons planning to excavate on their own
property give notice to neighboring adjoining
landowners so that neighbors may take preven-
tive measures to protect their property. The
failure of landowners who receive notice to take
precautions does not necessarily absolve the
excavator of

deprivation of subjacent support arises when
the land actually subsides, not when the
excavation is made.
The constr uction of buildings on the surface
of the land does not lessen a person’s right to
subjacent support. It does, however, change the
circumstances under which that person may
recover for the removal of subsurface support.
If such buildings are damaged, their owner
must show that the removal of the support was
done negligently.
Light, Air, and View No landowner has an
absolute right to light and air from or passing
over adjoining property or to a view over
adjoining lands. Zoning laws imposed by
localities may, however, require that any
construction undertaken by an individual not
deprive an adjoining landowner of adequate air,
light, and view. Similarly, many agreements
such as restrictive covenants in deeds or
easements affect a person’s duty toward his or
her next-door neighbor’s right to air, light, and
view. In the absence of zoning laws or
agreements, therefore, a person may build on
his or her own property without regard to the
fact that he or she is depriving the next-door
neighbor of the light, air, and view that was
enjoyed before the building was erected. An
exception is a structure that blocks air, light,
and view for the sole purpose of injuring a

may seek an injunction against continuation of
the encroachment or to force its removal.
Trees and Shrubs Landowners should not
permit trees or hedges on their property to
invade the rights of adjoining landowners. If an
individual knows, for example, that a tree on his
or her property is decayed and may fall and
damage the property of another, that individual
has a duty to eliminate the danger. A tree on the
boundary line of contiguous land belongs to both
adjoining landowners. Each owner has an interest
identical with the portion standing on his or her
land. Each can sever intruding tree branches or
roots at the boundary line of his or her property,
whether or not any injuries have been sustained
by the intrusion, but reasonable care must be
exercised so as not to kill the entire tree.
FURTHER READINGS
Barlow, John R. II, and Voncannon Barlow. 1997. Skelton on
the Legal Elements of Boundaries & Adjacent Properties
2d ed. New York: LexisNexis.
Jex, Thomas D. 1998. “Alcaraz v. Vece: If You Mow or
Water Your Next-Door-Neighbor’s Yard, You Might Be
Liable for Anyone Injured There.” BYU Journal of
Public Law 13 (winter).
Merrill, Karen R. 2002. Public Lands and Political Meaning:
Ranchers, the Government, and the Property between
Them. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Perin, Constance. 1977. Everything in Its Place: Social Order
and Land Use in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

Because a session can end with unfinished
legislative business, adjournment is commonly
used as a means of political leverage in securing
or delaying action on important matters. In the
U.S. Congress, where the single annual legisla-
tive session usually ends in the fall, the president
may call an adjournment if the House and
Senate cannot agree upon a date.
FURTHER READINGS
Baumann, David, and Kirk Victor. 2001. “Congress: Pitfalls
to Adjournment.” National Journal (November 10).
“Of Adjournment.” 2009. ChestofBooks.com. Available
online at />Rules-Order-Conduct/Of-Adjournment.html; website
home page: (accessed August
28, 2009).
Robert, Henry M. 2000. Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly
Revised. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.
CROSS REFERENCES
Congress of the United States ; Legislature.
ADJUDGE
To determine by a judge; to pass on and decide
judicially.
A person adjudged guilty is one who has
been convicted in court.
ADJUDICATION
The legal process of resolving a dispute. The
formal giving or pronouncing of a judgment or
decree in a court proceeding; also the judgment or
decision given. The entry of a decree by a court in
respect to the parties in a case. It implies a hearing

Complex evidentiary rules limit the presentation
of proofs, and the Anglo-American tradition of
STARE DECISIS, or following precedents, controls the
outcome. However, the process of applying
established rules of law is neither simple nor
automatic. Judges have considerable latitude in
interpreting the statutes or
CASE LAW upon which
they base their decisions.
An age-old question that still plagues legal
theorists is whether judges “make” law when
they adjudicate.
SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE believed
that judges do nothing more than maintain
and expound established law (Commentaries on
the Laws of England); other writers vehemently
disagree. Some legal analysts maintain that the
law is whatever judges declare it to be. Echoing
those sentiments, President
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
asserted that “the chief lawmakers in our
country may be, and often are, the judges,
because they are the final seat of authority.
Every time they interpret they necessarily
enact into law parts of a system of social
philosophy; and as such interpretation is
fundamental, they give direction to all law-
making” (Message to Congress [Dec. 8, 1908]).
Supreme Court Justice
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO,

evidence govern; a hearing before an adminis-
trative agency is genera lly less structured.
Following the hearing, the decision maker
is expected to deliver a reasoned opinion.
This opinion is the basis for review if the
decision is appeale d to a higher tribunal (a court
of appeals). It also helps ensure that decisions
are not reached arbitrarily. Finally, a well-
reasoned opinion forces the judge to carefully
think through his or her decision in order to
be able to explain the process followed in
reaching it.
Adjudication of a controversy generally
ensures a fair and equitable outcome. Because
Justice Charles Tejada
listens to arguments
during a New York
State Supreme Court
proceeding. The
adjudicative process is
governed by formal
rules of evidence and
procedure.
AP IMAGES
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3
RD E DITION
100 ADJUDICATION
courts are governed by evidentiary and proce-
dural rules, as well as by stare decisis, the
adjudicative process assures litigants of some

dispute, are those to which law is applied in the
process of adjudication; they are facts that, in a
jury case, normally go to the jury.
The role of a U.S. court is to resolve the
dispute that has brought the parties before it.
Determining what happened to whom, when
and how it happened, and what the result is or
will be, is part of the adjudicative process by
which the court reaches that
RESOLUTION. These
determinations establish the
ADJUDICATIVE FACTS
of the dispute.
Adjudicative facts differ from ordinary facts
in that they are considered facts only if the court
recognizes and accepts them. For example, a
witness may
TESTIFY that she saw the defendant’s
car parked at a specific place at a specific time.
Thesearethefactsassherecallsthem.However,
the court may reject her account and instead
accept another witness’s
TESTIMONY that the DEFEN-
DANT
was driving that same car i n another part of
town at the same time. The second witness’s
account will therefore become part of the
adjudicative facts of the case, and the f irst witness’s
recollection w ill be considered
IMMATERIAL.

compensation is fitting.
Adjudicative facts found by the court are
final and will not be reviewed on appeal except
in cases where it can be shown that the findings
were made on insubstantial evidence or were
clearly erroneous.
FURTHER READINGS
Carp, Robert A., and Ronald Stidham. 1993. The Judicial
Process in America. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Congres-
sional Quarterly.
Fraher, Richard M. 1987. “Adjudicative Facts, Non-evidence
Facts, and Permissible Jury Background Information.”
Indiana Law Journal 62 (spring).
“Section 201. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts.”
Available online at />guide-to-evidence/201.htm; website home page: http://
www.mass.gov/ (accessed August 28, 2009).
ADJUNCTION
Attachment or affixing to another. Something
attached as a dependent or auxiliary part.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
ADJUNCTION 101
Under the CIVIL LAW system that prevails in
much of Europe and Latin America, adjunction
is the permanent union of a thing belonging to
one person to something that belongs to
someone else.
A branch agency, for example, is an adjunct
of the main department or administrative agency.
ADJURATION
A swearing; taking an oath to be truthful.

LIABILITY when a
claim is submitted. A public adjuster is a self-
employed person who is hired by litigants to
determine or
SETTLE the amount of a claim or debt.
ADJUSTMENT SECURITIES
Stocks and bonds of a new corporation that are
issued to stockholders during a corporate reorga-
nization in exchange for stock held in the original
corporation before it wa s reorganized.
ADMINISTER
To give an oath, as to administer the oath of office
to the president at the inauguration. To direct the
transactions of business or government. Immigra-
tion laws are administered largely by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service. To take
care of affairs, as an executor administers the
estate of a deceased person. To directly cause the
ingestion of medications or poisons. To apply a
court decree, enforce its provisions, or resolve
disputes concerning its meaning.
School teachers generally are not authorized
to administer medicines that pupils take to
school, for example.
When divorced parents cannot agree on
how to administer a visitation provision in a
judgment granting
CHILD CUSTODY to one of
them, they might have to return to court for
clarification from the judge.

(EOP) by
REORGANIZATION PLAN 1 of 1977
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
102 ADJURATION
(implemented by EXECUTIVE ORDER 12,028, 42
Fed. Reg. 62, 895 [1977 ], issued on December
12, 1977, by President
JIMMY CARTER). The office
was created to help centralize the activities of all
EOP offices into a single agency. The director of
the Office of Administration, who is appointed
by, and reports directly to, the president, is
responsible for, according to Executive Order
12,028, “ensuring that the Office of Adminis-
tration provides units within the Executive
Office of the President common administrative
support and services.”
The Office of Administration provides ad-
ministrative support services to all EOP offices in
the White House, including services that are in
direct support of the president. The services
provided by the Office of Administration include
personnel management; financial management;
data processing; and office operations, including
the handling of mail (except for presidential
mail), messenger service, printing and duplica-
tion, graphics, word processing, procurement,
and supply. The office also oversees three
libraries (not open to the general public): a
general reference library in the New Executive

Administration Office Website. Available online at www.
whitehouse.gov/oa (accessed September 22, 2009).
CROSS REFERENCE
President of the United States.
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTS
Whatever actions are necessary to carry out the
intent of statutes; those acts required by legislative
policy as it is expressed in laws enacted by the
legislature.
If a city commission votes to create the
position of park superintendent, that is a
legislative act that can take effect only if the
Office of Administration
General Counsel
Director's Office
Security
Customer Service
Bureau
Equal
Employment
Opportunity
Financial
Management
Human
Resources
Management
Facilities
Management
General
Services

Most formal proceedings before an admin-
istrative agency follow the process of either rule
making or adjudication. Rule making formu-
lates policy by setting rules for the future
conduct of persons governed by that agency.
Adjudication applies the agency’s policy to the
past actions of a particular party, and it results
in an order for or against that party. Both
methods are strictly regulated by the law of
administrative procedure.
CROSS REFERENCES
Administrative Law and Proce dure.
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY
An official governmental body empowered with
the authority to direct and supervise the imple-
mentation of particular legislative acts. In addi-
tion to agency, such governmental bodies may be
called commissions, corporations (e.g., Federal
Deposit Insu rance Corporation), boards, de part-
ments, or divisions.
Administrative agencies are created by the
federal Constitution, the U.S. Congress, state
legislatures, and local lawmaking bodies to
manage crises, redress serious social problems,
or oversee complex matters of governmental
concern beyond the expertise of legislators.
Although Article I, Section 1, of the federal
Constitution plainly states that “[a]ll legislative
Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States,” the “necessary-

ters of admi nistrative agencies note that agen-
cies are create d and overseen by elected officials
or the president. Agencies are created by an
ENABLING STATUTE, which is a state or federal
law that gives birth to the agency and outlines
the procedures for the agency’s rule making.
Furthermore, agencies include the public in
their rule-making processes. Thus, by
PROXY,
agencies are the will of the electorate.
Supporters of administrative agencies note
also that agencies are able to adjudicate
relatively minor or exceedingly complex dis-
putes more quickly or more flexibly than can
state and federal courts, which helps preserve
judicial resources and promotes swift resolu-
tions. Opponents argue that swiftness and ease
at the expense of fairness are no virtues, but
while the debate continues, administrative
agencies thrive.
Governmental representation in an admin-
istrative capacity of any kind can be considered
administrative agency. The president is an
administrative agent whose enabling statute
is the federal Const itution. The 13 executive
departments reporting to the president are
administrative agencies. For example, the
DE-
PARTMENT OF JUSTICE
is a cabinet-level executive

FRANKLIN D.
ROOSEVELT could not remove the commissioner
of the
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) without
cause. The statute that created the commission
permitted removal of the commissioner only
for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or
MALFEASANCE
of office. Roosevelt purported to remove FTC
Commissioner William E. Humphrey, who had
been no minated by President
HERBERT C. HOOVER
to a seven-year term in 1931, in order to replace
Humphrey with an individual of Roosevelt’s
own selection. The Court held that because
Humphrey was not an executive officer, the
president could not remove him from office
except for the causes set forth in the statute.
Many of the administrativ e agencies that
affect everyday activities are independent agen-
cies. Among the numerous examples of inde-
pendent agencies are the
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY
, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, the
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, and the SECURI-
TIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
. Because the
president is generally able to appoint the chairs
or fill vacancies within these agencies, the

vaguely, in such a way as to allow the agencies
The National
Recovery
Administration was
created in the 1930s
to ensure fair market
competition. It was
one of numerous
agencies created by
Congress during the
Great Depression in
an effort to regulate
the production and
marketing of goods.
AP IMAGES
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3
RD E DITION
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY 105
broad discretion in determining their rules and
procedures. To keep agencies from wielding
unbridled power, the Administrative Procedure
Act of 1946 (APA) (5 U.S.C.A. § 551 [1982])
sets standards for the activities and rule making
of all federal regulatory agencies. The APA
provides federal courts with a framework
for reviewing the rules made and procedures
used by administrative agencies. Individual
states have similar statu tes to guide their own
courts.
History of Administrative Agency

agencies. The FBI is charged with solving crimes
such as
KIDNAPPING, ESPIONAGE, SABOTAGE, bank
ROBBERY, extortion, interstate transportation of
stolen property,
CIVIL RIGHTS violations, inter-
state gambling violations,
FRAUD against the
government, and the
ASSAULT or killing of a
federal officer or the president. As an agency
concerned with criminal apprehension, the FBI
is considered an arm of the government, and its
directorship is subject to presidential approval.
However, the FBI carries out its investigations
independent of political influence. It can, for
example, probe the actions of presidents and
legislators, the very persons responsible for its
existence.
Administrative agencies are usually created
in response to a felt public need. Some older
agencies, for example, were created after the
Civil War to address economic matters critical
to the United States’ expanding government.
After the
STOCK MARKET crash of October 1929,
and during the Great Depression of the 1930s,
Congress created numerous agencies in an
effort to regulate the production and marketing
of goods. Agencies such as the

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING between
employers and labor unions.
Congress installed the Federal Radio Com-
mission (FRC) in 1927 after entrepreneurs
discovered the commercial potential of radio
airwaves. In 1934 the FRC was merged into
the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC),
which was created by the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.) to
tackle the myriad issues presented by the
sudden widespread use of radio waves. In
the wake of television’s popularity, the Com-
munications Satellite Act of 1962 (47 U.S.C.A.
§§ 701–744) was enacted by Congress to
broaden the FCC’s powers to include re-
gulation of television broadcasting; telephone,
telegraph, and cable television operation;
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
106 ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY
two-way radio and radio operation; and satellite
communication.
When the United States entered
WORLD WAR II,
more agencies were created or enlarged to
mobilize human resources and production and
to administer price controls and rationing. The
social upheaval of the 1960s spawned agencies
designed to improve urban areas, provide
opportunities for people who were historically

,andFEDERAL RESERVE BOARD.
Public services are handled by administra-
tive agencies that include the
DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, En-
vironmental Protection Agency,
FOOD AND DRUG
ADMINISTRATION
, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HU-
MAN SERVICES
, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, IMMIGRA-
TION
and NATURALIZATION service, and National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Work-related administrative agencies in-
clude the
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY , Office of
Technology Assessment, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration, Occupational Safety
and Health Review Commission, National
Labor Relations Board, Mine Safety and Health
Administration, Mine Safety and Health Review
Commission,
MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD,
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPOR-
TUNITY COMMISSION
, and Office of Personnel

terrorist attacks in the United States and to
reduce the country’s vulnerability to
TERRORISM
in the aftermath of the SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS.
State and Local Administrative
Agencies
State and local administrative age ncies often
mirror federal agencies. Thus, the individual
states have agencies that control transportation,
public health, public assistance, education, natu-
ral resources, labor, law enforcement, agricul-
ture, commerce, and revenue. Any regulation
established by such an agency that conflicts with
a federal regulation will not be legally valid, but
this fact does not keep state agencies from
developing regulations that differ from those
promulgated by their federal counterparts. In the
spirit of administrative agency, state and local
governments also create agencies that help
address compelling, peculiarly local concerns.
Just like federal agencies, state and local
administrative agencies are often empowered to
hold hearings. These hearings are conducted by
their administrative boards, which are obligated
to represent the
PUBLIC INTEREST. By contrast,
courts must remain impartial to the two parties
before them. A
PAROLE board, for example, holds
informal hearings durin g which prisoners are