grandfather clause

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grandfather clause

1. A provision in a statute that exempts an activity or item from new regulations that would otherwise prevent engagement in that activity or use of that item.

2. A clause in some southern state constitutions that exempted descendants of persons allowed to vote prior to the Civil War from subsequent voting restrictions, meaning that such restrictions disfranchised many African Americans while not applying to many whites.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

grandfather clause

1. (Historical Terms) history US a clause in the constitutions of several Southern states that waived electoral literacy requirements for lineal descendants of people voting before 1867, thus ensuring the franchise for illiterate White people: declared unconstitutional in 1915

2. (Law) a clause in legislation that forbids or regulates an activity so that those engaged in it are exempted from the ban

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

grand′father clause`

1. a clause in the constitutions of some Southern states before 1915 intended to permit whites to vote while disfranchising blacks: it exempted the descendants of those who voted before 1867 from new rigid qualifications.

2. any legal provision that exempts a business, class of persons, etc., from a new regulation that would affect prior rights and privileges.

[1895–1900, Amer.]

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Noun

grandfather clause - an exemption based on circumstances existing prior to the adoption of some policy; used to enfranchise illiterate whites in south after the American Civil War

exemption, freedom - immunity from an obligation or duty

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"A grandfather clause is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases....Frequently, the exemption is limited; it may extend for a set period of time, or it may be lost under certain circumstances."

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"There will be a grandfather clause for students currently enrolled and any siblings joining ASD will be covered under this.