Also known as: impediments · legal impediment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An obstruction to the exercise of legal rights or privileges. Normal efforts by the affected party to remove the obstruction or to proceed despite its presence do not break the chain of causation for resulting harm.
A fact or condition such as lack of capacity or an existing marital bond that prevents parties from forming a valid marriage. Removal of the condition after formation allows recognition of the marriage from the date of removal in most states.
An obstruction to the exercise of legal rights or privileges. Normal efforts by the affected party to remove the obstruction or to proceed despite its presence do not break the chain of causation for resulting harm.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A fact or condition such as lack of capacity or an existing marital bond that prevents parties from forming a valid marriage. Removal of the condition after formation allows recognition of the marriage from the date of removal in most states.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
The Harbor Port Authority intentionally delayed docking clearance for a cargo ship owned by Bluewave Shipping to gain leverage in a berth dispute. Captain Lopez anchored offshore and sent crew on small-boat supply runs in rough weather. Deckhand Miller fell overboard and was injured during one run. Miller's injury occurred during ordinary efforts to overcome the clearance delay, so the Authority remains liable.
The City of New London approved a comprehensive redevelopment plan that required acquisition of numerous parcels. Several owners held clouded titles that created practical impediments to quick transfer. The city proceeded with eminent domain actions to clear those impediments and allow construction to begin on schedule.
A defendant challenged his conviction on ineffective assistance grounds after trial counsel failed to investigate key mitigation evidence. The reviewing court noted that the cold record made it difficult to determine how the government's case would have fared against proper rebuttal. Those record limitations operated as an impediment to a fair assessment of whether counsel's errors affected the outcome.
Congress conditioned federal highway funds on states raising the drinking age to twenty-one. The lack of uniformity among state drinking ages created an incentive for young drivers to cross borders for alcohol. The condition removed that cross-border incentive and thereby addressed a practical impediment to the federal interest in highway safety.
Oregon denied unemployment benefits to workers who ingested peyote during a religious ceremony. The state argued that granting an exemption would undermine its interest in uniform enforcement of drug laws. The claimed exemption therefore presented an impediment to the state's objective of preventing religious exceptions from eroding general criminal prohibitions.
Normal efforts by the affected party to remove the impediment or to exercise the right or privilege despite its existence are treated as part of the original causal sequence. The rule applies whether the defendant acted intentionally or negligently in creating the obstruction.
Supporting sources
When the defendant creates an impediment to another's lawful activity, ordinary and reasonable efforts to cope with that impediment are treated as foreseeable consequences. Only highly unusual or extraordinary responses qualify as superseding causes.
Supporting sources
Colin and Terry participated in a publicized ceremony and cohabited while holding themselves out as spouses in State A. Terry's earlier ceremonial marriage had never been formally dissolved due to a lost filing. The unresolved prior bond constituted an impediment that prevented formation of a valid common law marriage in State A. The defect was cured only after the couple moved to State B.
If an impediment exists at the time of the purported common law marriage but is later removed, most states recognize the marriage as valid from the date the impediment is removed. The marriage is not validated retroactively to the original ceremony date.
Supporting sources
Impediments include lack of capacity such as minority or unsoundness of mind and relational bars such as consanguinity or a prior undissolved marriage. Either type prevents formation of a valid marriage until removed.
Supporting sources
…interest “in the generality of cases, we must searchingly examine the interests that the State seeks to promote . . . and the impediment to those objectives that would flow from recognizing the claimed Amish exemption”). Failure to reduce the competing interests to the same plane of generality tends to distort the weighing…