Also known as: attributions · attribute · attributes · attributed · attributing · imputation
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
An assignment of a characteristic, action, status, or meaning to a person or entity by operation of law. The assignment occurs when facts or relationships trigger a legal rule that treats the attribute as belonging to the target despite its literal source elsewhere.
During a hearing, defense counsel repeatedly refers to the plaintiff using ethnic stereotypes. The presiding judge interrupts and orders counsel to stop all references that manifest bias based on national origin. Counsel complies, and the trial proceeds without further incidents of that nature.
A reporter publishes an interview with a mayor but deliberately rearranges the mayor's words so that a neutral comment on taxes appears as an endorsement of a controversial policy. The mayor sues for defamation. The court treats the material change in meaning as evidence that the reporter acted with knowledge of falsity.
Austin Abbott, who has never personally sold farm equipment, hires a broker who regularly deals in tractors. When Abbott sells a used tractor to a buyer, the court attributes the broker's specialized knowledge to Abbott and classifies him as a merchant under the UCC.
Alpine Mining conducts blasting operations near a residential neighborhood. Residents sue under strict liability. The court weighs the activity's dangerous attributes against its value to the community and finds the risks predominate, imposing liability without fault.
Anchor Bank amends its articles to replace the word 'bank' with 'corporation' and to delete the geographic reference 'Midwest' from its name. The filing officer accepts the amendment because the change substitutes an approved word and removes a geographical attribution.
A village denies a permit for low-income housing after officials cite concerns about property values that align with racial demographics of the proposed residents. Plaintiffs show the denial was motivated by racial considerations, and the court attributes the discriminatory purpose to the village under equal-protection analysis.
In 1971 Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation applied to the Village of Arlington Heights, Illinois, for rezoning of a 15-acre parcel from single-family to multiple-family classification. Using federal financial assistance under section 236 of the National Housing Act, MHDC planned to build 190 clustered townhouse units for low- and moderate-income tenants. The Village denied the rezoning request. MHDC, joined by other plaintiffs, brought suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging that the denial was racially discriminatory and violated the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Arlington Heights is a suburb of Chicago located about 26 miles northwest of the downtown Loop. Most land in the Village is zoned for detached single-family homes. The Clerics of St. Viator own an 80-acre parcel just east of the center of Arlington Heights that includes a high school, a novitiate building, and vacant land. Since 1959 all land surrounding the Viatorian property has been zoned R-3 for single-family use with relatively small minimum lot-size requirements. In 1970 MHDC entered into a 99-year lease and accompanying agreement of sale covering a 15-acre site in the southeast corner of the Viatorian property. The agreement set a bargain purchase price of $300,000 with the sale contingent upon securing zoning clearances and section 236 housing assistance. MHDC's plans for the Lincoln Green project called for 20 two-story buildings containing 190 units with a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom configurations and a large portion of the site left open. The development did not conform to the Village zoning ordinance and required rezoning to the R-5 multiple-family classification. MHDC filed a petition for rezoning with the Village Plan Commission accompanied by supporting materials that included an affirmative marketing plan designed to assure racial integration. MHDC consulted with Village staff and incorporated every recommended change into the plans. During the spring of 1971 the Plan Commission considered the proposal at three public meetings that drew large crowds. Opponents focused on the zoning aspects. They argued that the area had always been single-family. They also argued that the buffer policy adopted in 1962 called for R-5 zoning primarily to serve as a buffer between single-family development and commercial or manufacturing districts. At the close of the third meeting the Plan Commission recommended denial. On September 28, 1971, the Village Board denied the rezoning by a 6-1 vote. In June 1972 MHDC and three Black individuals filed suit against the Village. A second nonprofit corporation and an individual of Mexican-American descent intervened. After a bench trial the District Court entered judgment for the Village in 1974. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed in 1975. The Supreme Court granted the Village's petition for certiorari in 1975.
View caseIn a direct action against a liability insurer where the insured is not joined, the insurer is deemed a citizen of every state of which the insured is a citizen. This imputation destroys complete diversity when the plaintiff and the insured share citizenship.
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A symbiotic relationship arises when a state leases public space to a private entity at below-market rent and shares in its profits. The state's financial interdependence with the private discrimination converts the private conduct into state action under the Equal Protection Clause.
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When a term has an established meaning in a relevant trade and one party uses the term consistently with that meaning, the other party is treated as knowing the usage if it knew or had reason to know of it. The court therefore attributes the trade meaning to both parties.
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…have expressed constitutional principles of broader reach. In defining the right to marry these cases have identified essential attributes of that right based in history, tradition, and other constitutional liberties inherent in this intimate bond. See, e.g., Lawrence , 539 U.S., at 574; Turner , supra, at 95; Zablocki ,…