Also known as: undue pressure
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An external circumstance or influence that bears upon an actor's decision to perform a muscular contraction manifesting the will. The presence of such pressure, even when irresistible to a reasonable person, does not prevent the resulting movement from qualifying as an act, although it may render the act excusable.
Pierre Poulin lost his footing on a steep trail and felt himself pitching forward. He threw his arm outward and seized a nearby branch to stop the fall. The rapid movement occurred under the pressure of imminent injury, yet it still counted as his own act because his mind directed the muscular response.
State officials invited clergy to deliver prayers at a public high school graduation. Students faced social and institutional pressure to stand and participate even though attendance was not formally required. The resulting participation occurred under coercive pressure that the Court treated as state endorsement of religion.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Police took Pablo Perez into custody and questioned him for hours in a small room. The sustained pressure of isolation and repeated accusations overcame his resistance and produced statements. The Court held that the interrogation pressure required Miranda warnings before any statements could be used.
Federal narcotics agents entered Phoebe Park's apartment without a warrant and searched the premises. The agents acted under the institutional pressure of an ongoing investigation that they believed justified immediate action. The resulting search gave rise to a Bivens claim for violation of Fourth Amendment rights.
Congress reserved the power to veto an executive decision suspending deportation of an individual alien. The one-house veto operated under the structural pressure of maintaining legislative control over immigration outcomes. The Court held that this mechanism violated the constitutional requirements of bicameralism and presentment.
The California Coastal Commission conditioned approval of a beachfront building permit on the owners granting a public easement across their property. The owners faced the practical pressure of either accepting the condition or losing the right to build. The Court treated the condition as an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment.
No. Even when pressure is so great that reasonable persons cannot be expected to resist it, the resulting muscular contraction remains an act if the mind directs the response. The pressure may excuse liability but does not eliminate the character of the movement as an act.
Supporting sources
The Court treats such pressure as coercive when the state creates an environment in which students feel compelled to participate to avoid social disapproval or to conform to official endorsement of religion, violating the Establishment Clause even without formal compulsion.
Supporting sources
Sustained custodial interrogation pressure that overcomes a suspect's free will renders resulting statements inadmissible unless preceded by Miranda warnings. The test focuses on whether the pressure disabled the suspect from making a free and rational choice to speak.
Supporting sources
…doctrine in the state cases, as Malloy indicates, encompasses all interrogation practices which are likely to exert such pressure upon an individual as to disable him from making a free and rational choice.[^maj-34] The implications of this proposition were elaborated in our decision in Escobedo v. Illinois , 378 U.…