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FPA.abbr.Free from particular average. “F.P.A. means Free from Particular Average; that is to say, the insured can recover only where the loss is total or is due to a general average sacrifice. The claims under the Sue and Labour clause are not affected by this stipulation.” 2 E.W. Chance, Principles of Mercantile Law 128 (P.W.…

foy (foy or fwah). [Law French] Faith; allegiance.[Blacks Law 8th]

Fox’s Libel Act.Hist. A 1792 statute that gave the jury in a libel prosecution the right of rendering a guilty or not-guilty verdict on the whole matter in issue. • The jury was no longer bound to find the defendant guilty if it found that the defendant had in fact published the allegedly libelous statement.…

fovere consimilem causam (foh-veer-ee k<<schwa>>n-sim-<<schwa>>-l<<schwa>>m kaw-z<<schwa>>m). [Law Latin] Hist. To favor a similar case. • A judge who is disqualified for having a personal interest in a case may also be disqualified in a later case if the ruling in the former case could affect the ruling in the latter.[Blacks Law 8th]

four unities.The four qualities needed to create a joint tenancy at common law — interest, possession, time, and title. See UNITY(2). [Cases: Joint Tenancy 1. C.J.S. Estates § 19; Joint Tenancy§§ 2, 4, 7–9.][Blacks Law 8th]

fourth-sentence remand.See REMAND.[Blacks Law 8th]

fourth estate.The journalistic profession; the news media. • The term comes from the British Parliament’s reporters’ gallery, whose influence was said to equal Parliament’s three traditional estates: the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the Commons. (In France, the three estates were the clergy, the nobility, and the commons.)[Blacks Law 8th]

Fourth Amendment.The constitutional amendment, ratified with the Bill of Rights in 1791, prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures and the issuance of warrants without probable cause. See PROBABLE CAUSE. [Cases: Searches and Seizures 23. C.J.S. Searches and Seizures §§ 3, 5, 9–12, 14–15, 24, 29–30, 32, 34, 47–48, 102.][Blacks Law 8th]

four-folding.Hist. The quadrupling of a property’s taxable value for purposes of penalizing a person who falsely underreported the property’s true taxable value. “In the State of Connecticut a number of men are chosen annually by each town, to receive from each inhabitant a list of the taxable property in his possession. This list is required…

Fourteenth Amendment.The constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, whose primary provisions effectively apply the Bill of Rights to the states by prohibiting states from denying due process and equal protection and from abridging the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizenship. The amendment also gave Congress the power to enforce these provisions, leading to legislation such as…