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Fodder Scam (चारा घोटाला)
The Fodder Scam, known in Hindi as चारा घोटाला, was a fraud on Bihar's treasuries through fake fodder bills, from 1977 to 1996, investigated in connection with chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Foederati
Foederati (from Latin foedus, treaty) were Rome's treaty-bound allies: independent Italian states furnishing contingents in the Republic, and in the late empire barbarian peoples settled under treaty and paid in money, supplies, or land while keeping their own leaders.
Foedus Cassianum
Foedus Cassianum, the Treaty of Cassius of 493 BC, was the defensive alliance between the Roman Republic and the Latin cities, drafted by consul Spurius Cassius, with mutual aid, equal booty, and private-contract rights.
Folk Nation
Folk Nation ("Folks") is a Chicago-origin alliance of street and prison gangs formed in Illinois prisons in the late 1970s under Larry Hoover's Gangster Disciples, using six-point stars and right-side representation, rival to the People Nation.
Folsom State Prison
Folsom State Prison (FSP), in Represa, California, is the state's second oldest prison, opened July 26, 1880 after 1858 authorization, housing Level II/III medium-security men near California State Prison, Sacramento, known as New Folsom.
Food libel laws
Food libel laws, or veggie libel laws, are state agricultural disparagement statutes creating liability for false statements about food safety; enacted after the 1989 Alar scare in about thirteen states and tested in the Oprah Winfrey and pink slime cases.
Foot whipping
Foot whipping, also called falaka, falanga, or bastinado, is the beating of a person's bare foot soles with a rod or lash, used as punishment and torture, prohibited under international law, and documented in Middle Eastern detention systems.
For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers
For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, also called the FWS case: UK Supreme Court ruling of 16 April 2025 that "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 mean biological sex, excluding GRC holders.
Force majeure
Force majeure: contract clauses and civil law doctrines excusing performance for extraordinary events beyond a party's control. Contrasts with common law impossibility, impracticability, and frustration; codified in CISG Article 79 and UNIDROIT 7.1.7.
Forced heirship
Forced heirship (réserve héréditaire, legítima, Pflichtteil) is the civil law rule reserving a fixed share of an estate to children and spouse, overriding the will; rooted in Roman law, shaped by the Napoleonic Code, and contrasted with common law family provision.
Forced Labour Convention
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), ILO fundamental treaty adopted 28 June 1930, in force 1 May 1932, defining and prohibiting forced or compulsory labour, with five exceptions, 168 ratifications, supplemented by the 1957 Convention No. 105 and the 2014 Protocol P029.
Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution, also called involuntary prostitution, occurs when a person is made to engage in prostitution through coercion, violence, or deception that removes genuine consent.
Foreclosure
Foreclosure: legal process by which a lender satisfies an unpaid mortgage debt by selling the borrower's property. Judicial vs non-judicial routes, 120-day federal notice rule, loss mitigation options, and state-law effects distinguish it.
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 United States federal law requiring foreign financial institutions to report accounts held by U.S. taxpayers.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), 15 U.S.C. 78dd-1 et seq.: 1977 U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials and requiring accurate books, records, and internal controls, enforced by DOJ and SEC, paused by February 2025 executive order.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., is the 1978 U.S. law governing foreign intelligence surveillance through the FISA court; Section 702 (2008) permits warrantless collection on foreign targets abroad and faced a 2026 reauthorization standoff.
Foreign terrorist fighter resolutions (Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2396)
The foreign terrorist fighter resolutions, UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2396, obligate all UN member states to criminalize, detect, and manage cross-border terrorist travel.
Forensic interviewing
Forensic interviewing is structured, legally defensible questioning of victims or witnesses by specially trained professionals, using non-leading, open-ended prompts to gather reliable evidence about alleged abuse, exploitation, or violence.
Forensic science
Forensic science is the application of scientific methods to legal questions, examining evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, and trace materials to identify offenders or exonerate innocent suspects.
Forgery
Forgery: the false making or alteration of a writing with intent to defraud, rooted in Roman crimen falsi and English common law; covers document, art, and digital forgery with varying penalties worldwide.
Form 1040
Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, is the IRS's main federal individual income tax form, first issued January 5, 1914; redesigned in 2018 with schedules, paired with 1040-SR for seniors, due April 15.
Form 1099
Form 1099 series: IRS information returns reporting non-wage payments such as nonemployee compensation, interest, dividends, rents, and third-party network transactions, with $2,000 post-2025 threshold and January 31 NEC deadline.
Form 4473
Form 4473 (ATF Form 5300.9), the Firearms Transaction Record, is the federal form completed for firearm transfers from licensed dealers to non-licensees, recording buyer eligibility, NICS background-check details, and firearm descriptions; revised August 2023 with a 2026 proposed overhaul.
Form W-2
Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) is the US IRS form employers file with the Social Security Administration and give employees, reporting annual wages and federal income, social security, and Medicare tax withheld; distinct from Form 1099 for nonemployees.
Form W-4
Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate, is the IRS form employees give employers to set federal income tax withholding; redesigned for 2020 to drop withholding allowances after the TCJA, with five steps, an exemption option, and a 2026 update adding tips, overtime, and seniors deduction lines.
Form W-9
Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, is an IRS form a U.S. person uses to give a payer their TIN (SSN, ITIN, EIN) and certifications; it goes to the requester, not the IRS, and supports 1099 reporting and backup withholding at 24%.
Formal Social Control
Formal social control: regulation of behavior through written laws, official rules, and sanctions by institutions such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, contrasted with informal control via community norms; MeSH descriptor D012926, introduced 1968.
Former Presidents Act
Former Presidents Act (FPA), 3 U.S.C. §102 note, Public Law 85-745 of August 25, 1958: US law giving ex-presidents a lifetime Cabinet-level pension, GSA-funded office and staff, travel funds, and mailing privileges, prompted by Harry Truman's post-presidency finances.
Forrest Tucker (criminal)
Forrest Tucker, American career bank robber and escape artist (1930s to 1999), distinct from the F Troop actor of the same name; famous for the 1979 San Quentin kayak escape, the Over the Hill Gang, and United States v. Tucker (1972).
Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India
Forty-second Amendment Act, 1976: Emergency-era Indian constitutional amendment, the "mini-Constitution", that added socialist, secular and integrity to the Preamble, inserted Fundamental Duties, and had its judicial-review clauses struck down in Minerva Mills (1980).