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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), also called the Flag Salute Cases, held 6-3 that public schools cannot compel students to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, overruling Minersville School District v. Gobitis.
Westies
The Westies were an Irish-American organized crime gang, also called Coonan's Crew, based in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, active from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s under James Coonan, allied with the Gambino family and dismantled by 1988 federal RICO convictions.
Westley Allan Dodd
Westley Allan Dodd, child molester and serial killer who murdered Cole and Billy Neer and Lee Iseli in 1989, waived his appeal, and was hanged January 5, 1993, the first U.S. hanging since 1965.
Westley Devon Harris
Westley Devon Harris is an American prisoner on Alabama's death row, convicted in 2005 of killing six members of his girlfriend's family in Crenshaw County, Alabama.
Westphalian religious settlement
The Westphalian religious settlement comprises the confessional clauses of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, which recognized Calvinism as a third lawful confession and froze church property as of 1624.
Westphalian system
Westphalian system: term for the modern order of sovereign, territorial, equal states attributed to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia (Münster and Osnabrück); a late-1960s scholarly construct now widely criticized as the Westphalian myth.
Westroads Mall shooting
Westroads Mall shooting: December 5, 2007 mass shooting at the Von Maur store in Omaha, Nebraska; 19-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight, wounded five with a stolen AK-47, then died by suicide.
Wet lease
A wet lease is an aircraft leasing arrangement in which the lessor provides the aircraft with crew, maintenance, and insurance, known in the airline industry as ACMI.
Whipping Tom
Whipping Tom, the nickname of an unidentified predator who attacked lone women in London alleys in 1681, recorded in the pamphlet Whipping Tom Brought to Light; a copycat, Thomas Wallis, struck in 1712.
Whisky War
The Whisky War was the Canada–Denmark dispute over Hans Island (Tartupaluk) in Nares Strait, marked from 1984 by flag-planting and liquor bottles, ended by the June 14, 2022 Ottawa treaty dividing the island and settling Arctic maritime boundaries.
Whistleblower Protection Act
The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, a US federal statute, protects most federal employees from retaliation for reporting illegality, waste, and corruption; it was strengthened in 2012.
Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing: reporting suspected organizational wrongdoing to internal channels, regulators, or the public. Key frameworks include the US False Claims Act (1863), Sarbanes-Oxley (2002), Dodd-Frank SEC awards of 10-30%, OSHA anti-retaliation enforcement, and EU Directive 2019/1937.
White Heat
White Heat (1949) is Raoul Walsh's Warner Bros. gangster film starring James Cagney as psychopathic, mother-fixated criminal Cody Jarrett, with Edmond O'Brien as an undercover agent. Famous for the gas-tank climax line "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" and AFI's #4 gangster film.
White House Chief of Staff
White House chief of staff: the president's top aide, formal title Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff. Manages West Wing staff, Oval Office access, and NSC attendance; 26 holders since 1969; Susie Wiles holds the post since 2025.
White House Counsel
White House Counsel (Counsel to the President) is the chief lawyer of the White House Office, created under FDR, whose client is the presidency itself, handling ethics, nominations, oversight, and privilege matters.
White House Farm murders
White House Farm murders: killings of Nevill and June Bamber, Sheila Caffell, and her twin sons in Essex on 7 August 1985; Jeremy Bamber's 1986 conviction remains contested over silencer evidence.
White torture
White torture is psychological torture via sensory deprivation and prolonged solitary confinement; the term (Persian enferadi) originated among Iranian political prisoners and is documented by HRW, Rejali, and UN 15-day solitary thresholds.
White van speaker scam
White van speaker scam: parking-lot fraud selling cheap speakers and electronics at inflated prices using fake MSRPs, surplus-stock stories, and cash demands; documented in the US, Australia, and New Zealand, now also online and with projectors.
White-collar crime
White-collar crime is occupational or corporate lawbreaking involving fraud, deception, or breach of trust, a term coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 and still contested between offender-based and offense-based definitions.
White-shoe firm
White-shoe firm: American term for a prestigious, long-established law firm, investment bank, or accounting firm tied to Ivy League, WASP elite culture; examples include Cravath, Davis Polk, and Sullivan & Cromwell.
Whitechapel murders
Whitechapel murders: unsolved killings of women in London's East End, 1888-1891; five canonical victims including Mary Ann Nichols and Mary Jane Kelly attributed to Jack the Ripper; Metropolitan Police never charged anyone.
Whitehall Mystery
Whitehall Mystery: unsolved 1888 London murder in which a headless female torso was found in a vault of the new New Scotland Yard construction site, with an arm in the Thames at Pimlico; victim unidentified, verdict Found Dead.
Whitewater controversy
The Whitewater controversy, also called the Whitewater scandal or Whitewater affair, was a series of investigations from 1994 to 2001 into a failed Arkansas land investment by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Whitey Bulger
James "Whitey" Bulger (1929–2018) was a Boston crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang and was an FBI informant before his 2013 murder conviction.
Whitney Hermandorfer
Whitney Hermandorfer, also known as Whitney Downs Hermandorfer, is a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the Sixth Circuit. She was confirmed by the Senate in July 2025.
Whodunit
A whodunit is a mystery story that hides the criminal's identity until the end, usually a detective solving a murder; the term also names a branch of crime fiction.
WIC Radio Ltd v Simpson
WIC Radio Ltd v Simpson, 2008 SCC 40, is a Supreme Court of Canada defamation case in which Rafe Mair's fair comment defence succeeded against Kari Simpson, replacing subjective honest belief with an objective test.
Wichita Massacre
Wichita Massacre (Carr brothers case), December 2000 crime spree in Wichita, Kansas, in which Reginald and Jonathan Carr robbed, raped, and executed five people on a soccer field, killing four; death sentences upheld after Kansas v. Carr (2016).
Wickard v. Filburn
Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942), Supreme Court case holding Congress may regulate home-consumed wheat under the Commerce Clause via the aggregation principle; unanimous opinion by Justice Jackson, later narrowed by Lopez but relied on in Raich.
Wik Peoples v Queensland
Wik Peoples v Queensland [1996] HCA 40, the Wik decision, was a High Court of Australia native title case holding that pastoral leases do not necessarily extinguish native title, which can coexist with leasehold, pastoral rights prevailing on inconsistency, prompting the 1998 Native Title Act amendments.