Also known as: absorptions · absorb · absorbed · absorbing · absorbs
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The act or process of including or incorporating a thing into something else.
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Ariana Azizi punched a victim during a struggle and then took both a ring and a wallet in the same continuous transaction. The prosecution charged battery, robbery, and theft. The court held that none of the offenses absorbed the others because each remained legally distinct under common law merger rules.
Anika Anand operated a federally chartered bank in Maryland. State officials attempted to tax its operations. The court ruled that state power could not absorb or impede the federal institution created under Congress's enumerated powers.
Andre Antoine owned land that a village zoned for residential use only. He challenged the restriction as absorbing all commercial value. The court upheld the ordinance as a valid exercise of police power that incorporated reasonable limits on development.
Ava Adebayo sued under a collective bargaining agreement after her employer breached. The court held that federal law absorbed and governed the claim even though no federal statute directly addressed enforcement of such contracts.
Andrew Avery operated several adult theaters in a city that restricted their locations. He argued the ordinance absorbed protected speech. The court upheld the rules as content-neutral regulations that did not eliminate all avenues of expression.
Alice Atkins represented states claiming injury from EPA inaction on greenhouse gases. The agency argued that any harm was too diffuse to absorb into a concrete case. The court found standing because the states suffered particularized injury from rising sea levels.
At common law none of the offenses merged into the others when the same act satisfied elements of multiple felonies or multiple misdemeanors. Each offense remained legally distinct and the existence of one did not extinguish or absorb the others.
When a single course of conduct satisfied the elements of both a felony and a misdemeanor the prosecution could proceed only on the felony. The law treated the misdemeanor as merged into the felony and did not recognize a separate conviction.
…limitations such as the grand jury requirement and the reasonable doubt standard. Accusatorial values, however, have openly been absorbed into the due process standard governing confessions; this indeed is why at present "the kinship of the two rules [governing confessions and self-incrimination] is too apparent for denial."…