Also known as: palpably · palpability · palpable error · plain error
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An obvious or readily perceptible fact, error, mistake, or condition.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Paul Peterson stood trial for mail fraud. The judge instructed the jury that it could treat his silence as evidence of guilt. Defense counsel raised no objection. On appeal the court found the error palpable because the instruction directly violated the Fifth Amendment and affected the presumption of innocence.
Pierce Patterson owned beachfront lots. A new coastal statute barred all construction. The total deprivation of economic use was palpable, so the regulation constituted a per se taking under the Fifth Amendment.
Pablo Perez, a public official, sued a newspaper for defamation. The record showed the paper published the story with knowledge of falsity. The actual malice was palpable, satisfying the constitutional standard for recovery.
Pamela Phillips, a student, sought university funding for a religious publication. Officials denied the request while funding secular viewpoints. The discrimination was palpable and violated the First Amendment.
Patrick Phan, a hotel owner, challenged a state minimum wage law as a due process violation. The economic impact on liberty of contract was palpable, prompting the Court to sustain the regulation under the police power.
Prime Logistics lost a strip of land to a city street widening. The taking was palpable and the company received a jury award of one dollar. The Supreme Court held that just compensation must reflect the property's actual value.
An error is palpable when it is obvious on the face of the record and affects substantial rights. Courts may notice such an error even without a timely objection.
Supporting sources
A palpable mistake is one so obvious that the other party knew or had reason to know of it. Ordinary unilateral mistakes generally do not allow avoidance unless this obviousness element is present.
Supporting sources
A court will treat an evidentiary ruling as involving palpable error only when the mistake is fundamental and justice would be denied if the error were considered waived.
Supporting sources
…famous Virginia Resolutions of 1798, the General Assembly of Virginia resolved that it "doth particularly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late cases of the Alien and Sedition Acts,' passed at the last session of Congress . . . . [The Sedition Act] exercises . . . a…