英文法律词典 L-20

LEGISLATURE, government. That body of men in the state which has the power of making laws.

2. By the Constitution of the United States, art. 1, s. 1, all legislative¹ powers granted by it are vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives.

3. It requires the consent of a majority of each branch of the legislature in order to enact² a law, and then it must be approved by the president of the United States, or in case of his refusal, by two-thirds of each house. Const. U. S. art. 1, s. 7, 2.

4. Most of the constitutions of the several states, contain provisions nearly similar to this. In general, the legislature will not exercise judicial³ functions; yet the use of supreme⁴ power upon particular occasions, is not without example. Vide Judicial.

LEGITIMACY⁵. The state of being born in wedlock⁶; that is, in a lawful⁷ manner.

2. Marriage is considered by all civilized⁸ nations as the only source of legitimacy; the qualities of husband and wife must be possessed⁹ by the parents in order to make the offspring legitimate¹⁰; and furthermore the marriage must be lawful, for if it is void ab initio, the children who may be the offspring of such marriage are not legitimate. 1 Phil. Ev. Index, h. t.; Civ. Code L. art. 203 to 216.

3. In Virginia, it is provided by statute¹¹ of 1787, "that the issue of marriages deemed null in law, shall nevertheless be legitimate." 3 Hen. & Munf. 228, n.

4. A conclusive¹², presumption¹³ of legitimacy arises from marriage and cohabitation; and proof of the mother's irregularities will not destroy this presumption: pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant. To rebut¹⁴ this presumption, circumstances must be shown which render it impossible that the husband should be the father, as impotency and the like. 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 300-2. Vide Bastard¹⁵; Bastardy¹⁶; Paternity; Pregnancy¹⁷.

LEGITIMATE. That which is according to law; as, legitimate children, are lawful children, born in wedlock, in contradistinction to bastards¹⁸; legitimate autbority, or lawful power, in opposition¹⁹ to usurpation²⁰.

LEGITIMATION²¹. The act of giving the character of legitimate cbildren to those who were not so born.

2. In Louisiana, the Civil Code, art. 217, enacts²² that "children born out of marriage, except those who are born of an incestuous or adulterous connexion, may be legitimated²³ by the subsequent marriage of their father and mother whenever the latter have legally acknowledged them for their children, either before their marriage, or by the contract of marriage itself."

3. In most of the other states the character of legitimate children is given to those who are not so, by special acts of assembly. In Georgia, real estate may descend²⁴ from a mother to her illegitimate children and their representatives, and from such child, for want of descendants, to brothers and sisters, born of the same mother, and their representatives. Prince's Dig. 202. In Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont and Virginia, subsequent marriages of parents, and recognition by the father, legitimatize²⁵ an illegitimate child and in Massachusetts, for all purposes except inheriting from their kindred. Mass. Rev²⁶. St. 414.

4. The subsequent marriage of parents legitimatizes the child in Illinois, but he must be afterwards acknowledged. The same rule seems to have been adopted in Indiana and Missouri. An acknowledgment of illegitimate children, of itself, legitimatizes in Ohio, and in Michigan and Mississippi marriage alone between the reputed parents has the same effcct. In Maine, a bastard inherits to one who is legally adjudged, or in writing owns himself to be the father. A bastard may be legitimated in North Carolina, on application of the putative²⁷ father to court, either where he has married the mother, or she is dead, or married another or lives out of the state. In a number of the states, namely, in Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia, a bastard takes by descent from his mother, with modifications²⁸ regulated by the laws of these states. 2 Hill, Ab. s. 24 to 35, and the authori-ties there referred to. Vide Bastard; Bastardy; Descent.