Authorities
1) previous decisions by courts of appeal which
provide legal guidance to a court on questions in a current lawsuit, which are
called "precedents;" legal briefs (written arguments) are often called "points
and authorities; thus, a lawyer "cites" the previously decided cases as
"authorities" for his/her legal positions 2) a common term for law enforcement,
as in "I'm going to call the authorities" (i.e. police)