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Space Force, United States

(Encyclopedia) Space Force, United States (USSF), military force that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Air Force, est. Dec. 20, 2019, by act of Congress. The head of the Space Force is the Chief...

Burger, Warren Earl

(Encyclopedia) Burger, Warren Earl, 1907–95, American jurist, 15th chief justice of the United States (1969–86), b. St. Paul, Minn. After receiving his law degree in 1931 from St. Paul College of Law (now Mitche...

Sutherland, George

(Encyclopedia) Sutherland, George, 1862–1942, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1922–38), b. Buckinghamshire, England. He was taken by his family to Springville, Utah from England in 1864. After study...

gun control

(Encyclopedia) gun control, government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right o...

Virginia Military Institute

(Encyclopedia) Virginia Military Institute (VMI), at Lexington; state supported; chartered and opened 1839 as the first state military college in the United States. Although one of the leading U.S. military institut...

Tompkins, Daniel D.

(Encyclopedia) Tompkins, Daniel D., 1774–1825, American political figure, Vice President of the United States (1817–25), b. Scarsdale, N.Y. A leader of the Jeffersonian group in New York state, he was elected to...

plea bargaining

(Encyclopedia) plea bargaining, negotiation in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for concessions by the prosecutor (representing the state). The defendant waives the right to ...