Also known as: excepts · excepted · excepting · exceptio · exception · exceptions · exceptionable · exceptor · exclusion · objection
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A preposition or conjunction that introduces an exclusion or qualification carving out particular circumstances from the operation of a preceding general rule or statement.
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Eugene Ellsworth accepted the deed at closing without any repair covenant appearing in it. When the roof later leaked, Eugene sued the seller for breach of an earlier contract promise to fix it. The court held the promise discharged by merger, so the claim failed.
Elliot Edmonds challenged whether a revenue bill became law after presentment. The bill reached the President on a Friday. Because the ten-day period included a Sunday, the court applied the constitutional exception and counted only non-Sundays, finding timely return of the unsigned bill.
Emmett Egan noticed a deposition of a non-party witness. Because the parties had not stipulated otherwise and no court order was required under the default rule, the deposition proceeded on schedule.
Erika Echevarria offered a statement made during settlement talks in a later criminal prosecution brought by a regulatory agency. The court admitted the statement because the exception for public-office enforcement proceedings applied.
Ezra Eastman was charged with an offense lacking any stated mental state. The court required proof of at least negligence because the statute contained no exception removing the culpability element.
Eva Espinosa, a judge, received an unsolicited email about a pending case from one party's lawyer. She declined to read it and notified all counsel, preserving the prohibition on ex parte contacts.
No. The scope of the exception depends on the precise language that follows it. Some exceptions are narrow and fact-specific while others are broad.
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Yes. The party seeking the benefit of an exception ordinarily bears the burden of establishing the facts that bring the case within the exception.
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No. Exceptions are construed according to their own text and context. Courts do not automatically transplant an exception from one provision into another.
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…arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States (except the cases in which it has original jurisdiction) with such exceptions and under such regulations as Congress shall make. The term 'appellate jurisdiction' is to be taken in its largest sense and implies the right of superintending inferior tribunals.…