Also known as: permanently · permanence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A state or quality of enduring indefinitely or for a substantial duration without termination.
Pamela Phillips enters a store and takes a laptop without paying. She plans to keep the device for her own use rather than return it. The intent to deprive the owner permanently satisfies the mens rea element for common law larceny.
The city accepts a privately donated statue for placement in a public park. The statue is installed on a fixed concrete base with no plan for removal. Because the display is permanent government speech, the city may reject a request to add a second monument with a conflicting message.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
During a lengthy criminal trial a seated juror suffers a permanent medical condition that prevents further service. The court excuses the juror for good cause and impanels an alternate to continue deliberations without mistrial.
Pulse Media operates a factory that releases pollutants creating a permanent change in air quality. The ongoing interference with public comfort and health satisfies the element of a public nuisance under the Restatement test.
Paul Peterson and Piper Patel exchange consents to enter a marriage they both understand will be permanent and exclusive. Their agreement satisfies the common law requirement that the relationship be permanent rather than a mere temporary cohabitation.
Priscilla Parks takes a bicycle from a rack intending at that moment to sell it back to the owner for a profit. The plan to create a substantial risk of permanent loss supplies the required intent for larceny.
Larceny requires the intent to permanently deprive at the moment of a trespassory taking. Embezzlement instead requires an intentional conversion that is functionally equivalent to the same permanent deprivation intent.
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Yes. In both settings the term denotes a relationship or deprivation that is intended to last indefinitely rather than for a limited or temporary period.
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A court may excuse a juror permanently for good cause at any time and replace the juror with an alternate to avoid mistrial.
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Conduct that produces a permanent or long-lasting effect with significant impact on a public right satisfies one factor in the Restatement test for public nuisance.
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…as shall conduce to happiness and having established a Constitution those principles are fundamental and intended to be permanent. The government of the United States assigns to different departments respective powers and establishes limits not to be transcended. The Constitution is written to define limits; if those…