Official court orders requiring someone to appear in court or to hand over evidence; plural of subpoena.
From Medieval Latin 'sub poena' meaning under penalty, literally 'under punishment.' Courts use this term because people who ignore a subpoena face legal penalties like fines or jail time.
The phrase 'under penalty' is built right into the word—it's one of the few legal terms where the actual threat is hiding in the Latin! Ignore a subpoena and you're violating a court order.
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