Also known as: habitually · habitual residence · habitual offender
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A practice that is customary or repeated regularly in a trade, place, or between particular parties.
A practice that is customary or repeated regularly in a trade, place, or between particular parties.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A person who repeatedly commits offenses, as in habitual offender statutes.
After a jury convicted the defendant of a weapons offense, the judge found that the defendant had two prior convictions and imposed an enhanced sentence under the state's habitual offender statute. The Supreme Court held that the prior convictions must be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
A person who repeatedly commits offenses, as in habitual offender statutes.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Harbor Threads repeatedly returned unsold coats to Monarch Apparel at the end of each season and received full credit. Monarch accepted the returns without objection for three seasons. When Monarch later refused returns under a silent purchase order, the court treated the pattern as a habitual practice that supplemented the agreement.
A defendant challenged a sodomy statute, arguing that enforcement reflected only a habitual practice of targeting a disfavored group rather than a neutral state interest. The Court considered whether such selective application could survive equal-protection scrutiny.
A habitual practice qualifies as usage when it is regularly observed in a trade or between the parties. Courts may use it to interpret or fill gaps in a silent agreement provided the practice is not inconsistent with express terms.
Supporting sources
Evidence of a habitual practice is excluded when the written contract contains an integration clause that expressly limits obligations to enumerated items or when the practice directly contradicts an express term.
Supporting sources
The state sought to adjudicate a youth as a person in need of supervision on the ground that he was an habitual truant. The Court required proof of that status beyond a reasonable doubt because the finding carried the same stigma and potential loss of liberty as a criminal conviction.
A habitual offender received a life sentence without parole after seven nonviolent felonies. The Court examined whether the sentence was grossly disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment given the defendant's repeated but minor offenses.
A mining company argued that a statute protecting structures habitually used by the public did not apply to a particular road. Evidence showed regular public travel over the road for many years, establishing the habitual character of the use.
Yes. Any fact that increases the penalty beyond the statutory maximum, including findings that a defendant is a habitual offender, must be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required because the adjudication carries the same potential stigma and loss of liberty as a criminal conviction.
…theatres, hotels, and railroad stations. (b) Any street, road, bridge, or other public passageway, dedicated to public use or habitually used by the public. (c) Any track, roadbed, right of way, pipe, conduit, wire, or other facility, used in the service of the public by any municipal corporation or public service company…