Adjournment sine die

Last updated

Adjournment sine die (from Latin "without a day") is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a day to reconvene. [1] The assembly can reconvene, either in its present form or a reconstituted form, if preexisting laws and rules provide for this. Otherwise the adjournment effectively dissolves the assembly. [2]

A court may also adjourn a matter sine die, which means that the matter is stayed until further notice. In a sine die adjournment of this type, the hearing stands open indefinitely, and could theoretically be resumed if the situation changed. [3] For example, a case may be adjourned sine die if there is no possibility of proceeding in the foreseeable future, such as when the defendant is in prison and cannot participate in legal proceedings.[ citation needed ]

United States usage

The Congress of the United States customarily adjourns a session sine die on the morning of January 3, immediately before the next session holds its constitutionally mandated first meeting. It can also adjourn sine die at other times through a concurrent resolution that allows the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader to resume the session. [4]

Some state legislatures mark adjournment sine die with a ceremony. In the Florida Legislature, the sergeants-at-arms of the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives step outside their chambers each holding a handkerchief. When they meet in between the chambers, they both drop the handkerchiefs, signifying the end of the legislative session. [5] [6]

Similarly, the Texas Legislature allows members' families to be in the respective chambers. Under both the House and Senate rules, the only substantive matters which can be heard are resolutions making technical corrections to legislation already passed; otherwise, the only other matters which can be heard are congratulatory and memorial resolutions, and other honorary items (such as a caucus deciding on informal awards).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quorum</span> Minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct business

A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, the "requirement for a quorum is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by an unduly small number of persons." In contrast, a plenum is a meeting of the full body. A body, or a meeting or vote of it, is quorate if a quorum is present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia General Assembly</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Georgia

The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In parliamentary procedure, an adjournment ends a meeting. It could be done using a motion to adjourn. A time for another meeting could be set using the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri General Assembly</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Missouri

The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are subject to term limits. Senators are limited to two four-year terms and representatives to four two-year terms, a total of 8 years for members of both houses.

A concurrent resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law and does not require the approval of the chief executive (president). Concurrent resolutions are typically adopted to regulate the internal affairs of the legislature that adopted them, or for other purposes, if authority of law is not necessary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">148th Georgia General Assembly</span> Term of state legislature in US state of Georgia

The 2005 regular session of the 148th Georgia General Assembly met from January 10, 2005, to March 31, 2005, at which time both houses adjourned sine die. In addition, Governor Sonny Perdue called for a special session, which met from September 6, 2005, to September 10, 2005. This was the first session since Reconstruction that both houses were controlled by Republicans, as the House of Representatives was won by the GOP at the 2004 election. The legislature redrew legislative and congressional maps in 2005 after federal judges struck down both maps which were drawn by the 146th legislature as violating the one person, one vote guarantee of the U.S. Constitution, resulting in a reshuffling of districts which took effect in the next legislature which shored up Republican gains in both chambers and in Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">147th Georgia General Assembly</span> Term of state legislature in US state of Georgia

The 2003 regular session of the 147th General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia met from January 13, 2003, at 10:00 am, to Friday, April 25, at midnight, at which time both houses adjourned sine die. Control of the General Assembly was split between the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Legislature</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Oklahoma

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, and 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election cycle. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population. The Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevada Legislature</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Nevada

The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in the United States, after Alaska's and Delaware's (62). The Nevada State Legislature as of 2019 is the first majority female State Legislature in the history of the United States. As of 2022, the Democratic Party controls both houses of the Nevada State Legislature. In the 2022 Nevada elections, which were a part of the midterm elections for that year, the Democratic Party obtained a supermajority in the lower house of the state legislature. As for the upper house of the state legislature, the elections provided the Democratic Party with thirteen of the twenty-one seats—amounting to a partisan composition of 61.9 percent.

A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. In each country the procedures for opening, ending, and in between sessions differs slightly. A session may last for the full term of the legislature or the term may consist of a number of sessions. These may be of fixed duration, such as a year, or may be used as a parliamentary procedural device. A session of the legislature is brought to an end by an official act of prorogation. In either event, the effect of prorogation is generally the clearing of all outstanding matters before the legislature.

In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. Such motions, and the form they take are specified by the deliberate assembly and/or a pre-agreed volume detailing parliamentary procedure, such as Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised; The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure; or Lord Critine's The ABC of Chairmanship. Motions are used in conducting business in almost all legislative bodies worldwide, and are used in meetings of many church vestries, corporate boards, and fraternal organizations.

A legislative calendar is used by legislatures in the United States to plan their business during the legislative session.

Stopping the clock is a controversial practice in American and Canadian parliamentary procedure in which a legislature literally or notionally stops the clock, usually for the purpose of meeting a constitutional or statutory deadline. Riddick's Rules of Procedure notes, "The official clock is stopped by agreement of the 'powers that be' without any motion or announcement one minute before the designated hour." Sometimes it is done to allow more time for lobbying or deal-making to obtain the necessary votes for one side to prevail on a measure. Some legislatures actually stop the clock, and others simply use it as a metaphor for continuing business after a time deadline has passed. Stopping the clock is also sometimes done for ceremonial purposes to ensure that both houses of a bicameral legislature adjourn simultaneously.

A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjournment, but also for any portion of a regular session that falls after an election. In current practice, any meeting of Congress after election day, but before the next Congress convenes the following January, is a lame-duck session. Prior to 1933, when the 20th Amendment changed the dates of the congressional term, the last regular session of Congress was always a lame-duck session.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procedures of the United States Congress</span> Established ways of doing legislative business

Procedures of the United States Congress are established ways of doing legislative business. Congress has two-year terms with one session each year. There are rules and procedures, often complex, which guide how it converts ideas for legislation into laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">178th New York State Legislature</span> New York state legislative session

The 178th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1969, to April 20, 1970, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">179th New York State Legislature</span> New York state legislative session

The 179th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1971, to May 12, 1972, during the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">180th New York State Legislature</span> New York state legislative session

The 180th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 1973, to May 30, 1974, during the fifteenth and final year of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, and during Malcolm Wilson's governorship, in Albany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">181st New York State Legislature</span> New York state legislative session

The 181st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1975, to August 5, 1976, during the first and second years of Hugh Carey's governorship in Albany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th Arizona State Legislature</span> Session of the Arizona Legislature

The 40th Arizona State Legislature, consisting of the Arizona State Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives, was constituted in Phoenix from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 1992, during the first two years of Fife Symington's first term as governor. Both the Senate and the House membership remained constant at 30 and 60, respectively. The Democrats flipped control in the Senate, gaining four seats and creating a Democratic majority of 17–13. The Democrats also gained two seats in the house, decreasing the Republican majority to 33–27.

References

  1. Sine die Webster's New World College Dictionary, Retrieved July 18th, 2009
  2. Robert, Henry M.; et al. (2011). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-306-82020-5.
  3. Glossary - Latin Terms: Sine Die Archived 2010-06-29 at the Wayback Machine Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, Retrieved May 16, 2011
  4. "Adjournment sine die", US Senate Glossary, Retrieved July 18, 2009
  5. Dughi, Don (1979). "Sine Die Handkerchief Ceremony-Florida State Capitol". Florida State Library and Archives.
  6. "Tallahassee not only capitol with 'sine die' traditions - Florida Politics". floridapolitics.com. Retrieved September 26, 2017.