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W. Louis Sands
W. Louis Sands, also known as Willie Louis Sands, is a senior United States district judge for the Middle District of Georgia, appointed by President Clinton in 1994.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (WLRK) is a New York corporate law firm founded in 1965, known for takeover defense, the poison pill invented by Martin Lipton, and leading profits per equity partner among US firms.
Waco siege
Waco siege: 51-day 1993 standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidians led by David Koresh at Mount Carmel near Waco, Texas; began with a fatal ATF raid February 28, 1993 and ended in the April 19 compound fire that killed more than 70 people.
Wade Wilson (criminal)
Wade Steven Wilson, the "Deadpool Killer", is a Florida death row inmate sentenced in 2024 for the 2019 murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz in Cape Coral; his mandatory appeal remains pending.
Wagatha Christie
Wagatha Christie, also called Vardy v Rooney, is the English High Court libel case in which Rebekah Vardy sued Coleen Rooney over a 2019 Instagram leak accusation; Rooney won in July 2022, with Vardy later ordered to pay £1.4 million in costs.
Wah Ching (华青)
Wah Ching (華青), a Chinese American gang founded in 1960s San Francisco Chinatown by foreign-born immigrant youths, evolved from street gang into organized crime, known for the 1977 Golden Dragon massacre and Los Angeles/San Gabriel Valley operations.
Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day, New Zealand's national public holiday on 6 February, commemorates the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti o Waitangi); made a holiday in 1973, renamed by the 1976 Act, Mondayised since 2013.
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi) is New Zealand's standing commission of inquiry under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, making non-binding recommendations on Māori claims of Crown Treaty breaches and feeding negotiated settlements.
Walburga Oesterreich
Walburga "Dolly" Oesterreich (1880-1961), American housewife of the 1922 "lover in the attic" murder case: kept Otto Sanhuber hidden in her attics; both escaped conviction for husband Fred's killing.
Walking Purchase
The Walking Purchase was a fraudulent 1737 land transaction in which Pennsylvania proprietors used an unsigned 1686 deed to take roughly 1,200 square miles from the Lenape.
Walter D. Counts III
Walter D. Counts III, born 1961 in Knox City, Texas, is a United States district judge for the Western District of Texas, confirmed unanimously in 2018.
Walter de Havilland
Walter Augustus de Havilland was an English patent attorney and professor of Law at Waseda University in Tokyo, and father of actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine.
Walter H. Rice
Walter H. Rice, born Walter Herbert Rice, is an American jurist who served as a federal district judge in Ohio from 1980 to 2026, appointed by Jimmy Carter.
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein (1901–1982), German jurist and diplomat: law professor at Rostock and Frankfurt, State Secretary under Adenauer, namesake of the Hallstein Doctrine, and first President of the EEC Commission 1958–1967, a founding father of the EU.
Walter McMillian
Walter McMillian ("Johnny D") was a Monroeville, Alabama logger wrongfully convicted of Ronda Morrison's 1986 murder, sentenced to death by judicial override, and exonerated in 1993 after six years on death row.
Walter Nixon
Walter L. Nixon Jr. (born 1928), federal district judge in Mississippi, impeached and removed by the Senate in 1989 after a perjury conviction; his case produced Nixon v. United States (1993).
Walter Stadnick
Walter Stadnick (Wolodumyr Stadnick), nicknamed "Nurget", is a Canadian outlaw biker, former national president of the Hells Angels in Canada and founding member of the Nomads chapter, convicted in 2004 of gangsterism, murder conspiracy and drug conspiracy after Operation Springtime.
Walther Schücking
Walther Schücking was a German jurist, pacifist, and liberal politician who became the first permanent German judge on the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1930.
Wanda Holloway
Wanda Webb Holloway, the "Texas Cheerleader Mom" or "Pom-Pom Mom," tried in 1991 to hire a hit man via Terry Harper to kill Verna Heath; convicted, overturned on juror ineligibility, 1996 no-contest plea.
Wang Hai
Wang Hai (王海) is a Chinese consumer-rights activist who became famous in 1995 by buying counterfeit Sony headphones in Beijing and winning punitive compensation, launching professional fake-busting.
Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (UMEED Act) amends India's Waqf Act, 1995, renaming it, removing waqf by user, adding five-year Islam practice and government-property provisions, and adding non-Muslim members to waqf bodies.
Waqf (وقف)
Waqf (وقف, plural awqaf; also habs) is the Islamic perpetual charitable endowment: property made inalienable, its usufruct dedicated to religious or charitable purposes, historically the main provider of education, healthcare, and welfare across Muslim societies.
War crime
A war crime is a serious violation of international humanitarian law that incurs individual criminal responsibility under international law and invariably occurs in connection with an armed conflict.
War guilt question
War guilt question (Kriegsschuldfrage): dispute over responsibility for causing World War I, from Versailles Article 231 through the 1960s Fischer controversy to centenary debates on Germany's role.
War of aggression
War of aggression: use of armed force violating the UN Charter; an international crime (Nuremberg 'crime against peace', Rome Statute article 8 bis, Kampala Amendments 2010, ICC jurisdiction activated 2018) prosecutable only against leaders of states, with limited ICC reach.
War Powers Resolution
The War Powers Resolution (War Powers Act, P.L. 93-148, 50 U.S.C. §§1541-1550) is a 1973 U.S. law passed over Nixon's veto requiring 48-hour reporting of force deployments and termination within 60-90 days absent congressional authorization.
War reparations
War reparations, also known as war indemnities, are payments and redress a state owes for internationally wrongful acts of war, today often extending to individual victims.
Ward (law)
Ward (law): a person, usually a child, under the legal care of a court or guardian (wardship). Covers modern ward of court/state status and English feudal wardship, the Court of Wards (1540–1646), Magna Carta clauses, and wardship versus guardianship.
Ward Weaver III
Ward Weaver III, Oregon City murderer convicted of killing schoolgirls Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis in 2002; son of death-row killer Ward Weaver Jr.; serving life without parole.
Warrant (law)
Warrant (law): judicial authorization by a judge or magistrate for arrest, search, or seizure. Fourth Amendment requires probable cause, oath, and particularity; shaped by colonial general warrants and writs of assistance, now extended to geofence warrants.