WHAT THE WORDS MEAN

Also called acknowledgment of paternity

A signed acknowledgment, filed with the Department of Public Health, that is the same as a court judgment of parentage.

Also called A misdemeanor

The highest class of misdemeanor, with a jail term of up to one year and a fine of up to $2,000, unless the statute defining the crime says otherwise.

Also called self help eviction

A landlord, owner or agent depriving a tenant of access to the unit or the tenant's possessions without a court order, a class C misdemeanor.

Also called unfair trade practices, deceptive practices

The prohibition on unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce, enforced by suits for actual and punitive damages.

Also called primary aggressor

The person an officer at a family violence call finds is the dominant aggressor, weighing self defense, the injuries, threats and any history, and whom the officer arrests.

Also called wiretapping, mechanical overhearing

Wiretapping a call by someone who is neither sender nor receiver, without either one's consent, or mechanically overhearing or recording a conversation without the consent of at least one party, by someone not present.

Also called workplace surveillance

Collecting information on an employer's premises about employees' activities or communications by any means other than direct observation, which requires prior written notice.

Also called BAC, the legal limit

A ratio of alcohol in the blood of eight hundredths of one per cent or more by weight, four hundredths for a commercial vehicle, and two hundredths for a person under twenty one years of age.

Also called expungement, clean slate

Police, court and prosecutor records of a charge erased after a not guilty finding or a dismissal, or of an eligible conviction after seven or ten years.

Also called heat and hot water

Heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas or another essential service a landlord is required to supply, whose failure gives the tenant the remedies in the statute after notice.

Also called leaving the scene, hit and run

Not stopping, helping and giving name, address, operator's license number and registration number after knowingly being involved in an accident that injures someone or damages property.

Also called temporary restraining order

An order a court makes on an application for relief from abuse before the other person has been heard, lasting until the hearing.

Also called late rent period

The nine days after rent is due, four in a week to week tenancy, before a landlord may end the agreement for nonpayment or charge a late fee.

Also called homestead

A home kept from a judgment creditor to a value of $250,000, counted after the liens on it.

Also called consent to a breath test

Anyone who operates a motor vehicle in Connecticut is deemed to have consented to a chemical test of blood, breath or urine and to the nontestimonial portion of a drug influence evaluation.

Also called a ticket

An offense with only a fine, which the statutes call an infraction rather than a violation or a crime; it is not a felony or a misdemeanor.

Also called resisting arrest

Obstructing, resisting, hindering or endangering a peace officer or firefighter in the performance of their duties.

Also called no fault divorce

The first of the causes for which a dissolution of marriage is granted: that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

Also called lemon law car

A new car whose defect substantially impairing its use, safety or value the manufacturer cannot fix after a reasonable number of attempts, presumed after four or more repairs or thirty days out of service in the first two years or 24,000 miles.

Also called required reporter

A person the statute lists who must report reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect within twelve hours.

Also called eviction notice

The written notice served by a proper officer telling a tenant to leave by a date at least three days later, stating the reason in the statute's words, which comes before an eviction case.

Also called OUI, DUI, DWI

Operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both, or with an elevated blood alcohol content of eight hundredths of one per cent or more.

Also called personal social media

An online account used only for personal purposes and not for the employer's business, email, social media and shopping sites included, whose login an employer may not ask for.

Also called FOI request

Every record a public agency keeps, whether or not the law requires it to be kept, which every person may inspect and copy unless a law provides otherwise.

Also called driving over 85

Driving recklessly given the road's width, traffic and use, the intersections and the weather; driving at more than 85 miles per hour is a violation of the same section.

Also called deposit

Any advance rental payment, except an advance payment of the first month's rent or a deposit for a key or special equipment; a landlord may demand up to two months' rent, or one month's from a tenant 62 or older.

Also called small claims court

The simplified procedure for money claims of not more than $5,000, or $15,000 over a registered home improvement or new home contractor's work, with relaxed rules of evidence.

Also called time limit to sue

The period within which a claim is brought: six years on a written contract or account, two years for injury caused by negligence.

Also called eviction case, housing court

The court case that follows a notice to quit, in which a tenant who does not appear within two days after the return day may have judgment entered against them, followed by a five day stay of execution.

Also called promise to appear, PTA

Release from custody on a signed promise to come to court, the first condition the court considers, without special conditions or with nonfinancial ones.