Also known as: immateriality · immaterialities
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A fact or consideration that does not affect the legal rights, duties, or outcome of a dispute.
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Imani Idowu sued Island Manufacturing for breach of contract and included a paragraph alleging the CEO once made an offensive remark unrelated to the deal. The court granted the motion to strike that paragraph because the remark had no bearing on whether a contract existed or was breached.
Ike Ingram locked the door to a room containing Israel Irving, then removed the only key from the building. The court held that the indirect nature of the confinement did not prevent liability because the method of causing the confinement carried no legal weight.
Irene Ingalls used a rolled newspaper to strike an attacker she reasonably believed threatened serious injury. When the blow unexpectedly caused a fatal head injury, the court ruled the unexpected severity did not remove the privilege of self-defense.
After President Adams signed judicial commissions, a clerk placed them on a desk but never delivered them before the new administration took office. The court concluded that the fate of the undelivered commissions did not determine whether the appointees held vested rights.
A civil rights group paid the New York Times to publish a full-page statement criticizing police conduct. The Court held that payment for the space did not convert the statement into unprotected commercial speech.
A physician provided lethal medication to a terminally ill patient who requested it. The Court ruled that the patient's consent did not shield the physician from criminal liability under state law prohibiting assistance in suicide.
A court may strike any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter from a pleading on its own initiative or on a party's timely motion.
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Liability exists whenever an intentional act is the legal cause of confinement, regardless of whether the act produces the confinement directly or indirectly.
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The privilege of self-defense turns on the harm the actor intends or reasonably expects to cause, not on harm that unexpectedly results.
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Article 9 rights and obligations apply whether title to the collateral rests in the secured party or the debtor.
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…The court opined he was not bound to say what had become of them; if they never came to Mr. Madison's possession, it was immaterial to the present cause what had been done with them by others. To the other questions he answered that he had seen commissions of justices of the peace of the District of Columbia signed by…