De Minimis

De minimis means too insignificant to merit attention. Conduct could be considered de minimis when its degree of wrongfulness is too minimal to justify a criminal conviction—a trivial violation of a rule. For example, courts have dismissed cases when an object of a theft is of extremely low value (e.g. a few pieces of gum or some fruit from a buffet table). De minimis comes from the Latin phrase: de minimis no cuat lex (“The law does not concern itself with trifles.”).