In the law of descent and family relations. A step or grade, i. e., thedistance, or number of removes, which separates two persons who are related byconsanguinity. Thus we speak of cousins in the “second degree.” In criminal law . The term “degree” denotes a division or classification of one specificcrime into several grades or stadia of guilt, according to the circumstances attending itscommission. Thus, in some states, there may be ” murder in the second degree .”
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