Also known as: commands · commanded · commanding
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An authoritative order or directive issued by a court, statute, or official that requires a person or entity to perform or refrain from a specific action.
A sheriff receives a court order expressly directing him to execute a convicted prisoner at dawn. The sheriff carries out the execution precisely as ordered. Because the law commanded the killing, the act falls into the justifiable homicide category and carries no criminal liability.
A federal magistrate issues a search warrant that identifies the apartment to be searched and the drugs to be seized. The warrant expressly commands the executing officer to search the premises within ten days during daylight hours and to return the warrant to the issuing judge. The officer follows those commands exactly.
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Congress enacts a statute requiring state police officers to perform federal background checks on handgun buyers. State officers refuse to comply. The Supreme Court holds that the federal government may not command state officers to administer a federal program, so the provision is struck down under the Tenth Amendment.
A plaintiff serves a subpoena on a corporate officer that commands her to appear at a deposition on a stated date and to produce specified financial records. The officer attends and produces the documents as directed. Failure to obey would expose her to contempt sanctions.
Caleb Chang tells his associate to break into a rival's office and steal trade secrets, offering payment for the act. Chang acts with the purpose of facilitating the crime. The command alone completes the offense of solicitation even though the associate never acts.
Caitlin Crowley points a gun at a neighbor and orders him to hand over his wallet or be shot. The neighbor complies. The command does not shield Crowley from assault liability because she was not privileged to enforce the demand by the threatened contact.
A command satisfies the actus reus of solicitation when made with the specific intent that the crime be committed. A mere request or expression of approval does not suffice.
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The warrant must command the officer to execute the search within a specified time no longer than fourteen days and, absent good cause, during daytime hours.
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The doctrine forbids federal commands that require states or their officers to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program, but it does not bar federal laws that directly regulate private parties.
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A command provides no defense to assault liability unless the actor is privileged to enforce the command by inflicting the threatened contact.
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…the court for a rule to James Madison, Secretary of State of the United States, to show cause why a mandamus should not issue commanding him to cause to be delivered to them respectively their several commissions as justices of the peace in the District of Columbia. This motion was supported by affidavits that notice had…