Also known as: disavows · disavowed · disavowing · disavowal · repudiate · deny
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal denial or renunciation of a previously asserted position, claim, or doctrine.
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Denise Donovan, born in State A, asserted U.S. citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment after moving abroad. State A officials formally disavowed her claim in court filings, arguing she had expatriated herself. The court accepted the disavowal and dismissed her privileges-or-immunities claim.
Destiny Davis testified at trial that she saw the defendant at the scene. On cross-examination she disavowed her earlier written statement to police. Because she received an opportunity to explain the inconsistency, the court admitted the prior statement under Rule 613(b).
Dwight Dorsey orally permitted Danielle Dixon to install a driveway across his lot. Years later, when Dixon sought to enforce the access right, Dorsey disavowed any servitude. The court held that Dixon's substantial investment in reliance on the permission estopped Dorsey from denying the servitude.
An alien detainee held as an enemy combatant disavowed any affiliation with hostile forces. The reviewing court treated the disavowal as a factual challenge to the President's detention authority and ordered further proceedings under the habeas substitute.
Dustin Donovan filed a diversity action claiming $200,000 in damages. At trial the jury awarded only $40,000. The court disavowed the original jurisdictional amount for cost purposes and imposed costs on Donovan under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(b).
Dakota Industries served requests for admission on Doris Duffy. Duffy's response disavowed several matters by stating she lacked sufficient information after reasonable inquiry. The court accepted the qualified denial as compliant with Rule 36(a)(4).
A disavowal allows the opposing party to introduce the prior inconsistent statement after the witness has an opportunity to explain or deny it.
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A landowner may attempt to disavow an oral permission, but substantial reliance by the user can estop the denial and create a servitude.
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When the final recovery falls below the jurisdictional threshold, the court may deny costs to the plaintiff and impose costs on the plaintiff.
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…school of thought.” Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc. , 348 U.S. 483, 488 (1955). Rejecting Lochner does not require disavowing the doctrine of implied fundamental rights, and this Court has not done so. But to avoid repeating Lochner ’s error of converting personal preferences into constitutional mandates, our…