The act of one who has, by law, a right and power of having or doing something of advantage, and declines it Also, the declination of a request or demand, or the omission to comply with some re-qulrement of law, as the reeult of a positive intention to disobey. In the latter sense, the word ie often coupled wlth “neglect,” as. if a party shall “neglect or refuse" to pay a tax, file an official bond, obey an order of court, etc. But “neglect” signifies a mere omlsslon of a duty, whlch may happen through inattention, dilatoriness, mistake, or inability to perform, while “refusal" lmplies the posltive denial of an appllcatlon or command, or at least a mental determlnatlon not to comply. See Thompson v. Tlnkcom, 15 Mlnn. 299 (Gll. 226); People ▼. Perkins, 86 Cal. 509, 26 Pac. 245; Kimball v. Rowland, 6 Gray (Mass.) 225; Davis v. Lumpkin, 106 Ga. 582, 32 S. E. 626; Burns v. Fox, 113 Ind. 205, 14 N. E. 541; Cape Elizabeth v. Boyd, 86 Me. 317, 29 Atl. 1062; Taylor v. Mason, 9 wheat 344, 6 L. Ed. 101
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
