Also known as: primary purposes · main purpose
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The dominant aim or objective of an interrogation, statement, or conduct that determines its legal character under a governing rule or standard.
Priscilla Parks called 911 while her estranged husband was still in the apartment and actively threatening her. The operator asked where the assailant was and whether he had a weapon. The statements are nontestimonial because the primary purpose was to obtain immediate police assistance during an ongoing emergency.
A nonprofit religious society that owns an apartment building limits rentals to members of its faith. The limitation is permitted because the primary purpose of the housing is to serve the organization's religious community rather than to operate a commercial enterprise.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Valley AgriCorp pumped manure slurry along the boundary with the Martins' farmhouse immediately after the Martins opposed its rezoning request and timed the applications to coincide with the Martins' outdoor gatherings. The conduct's primary purpose of injuring the neighbors renders the interference unreasonable in the nuisance action.
A three-year-old told his preschool teachers that his mother's boyfriend had caused bruises on his body. The teachers questioned the child to determine whether he was safe and whether the abuse was continuing. The statements are nontestimonial because their primary purpose was to protect the child from an ongoing emergency.
A farmer grew wheat on his own land solely for family consumption in excess of the federal allotment. The regulation's primary purpose of stabilizing national wheat prices and markets brings the activity within Congress's commerce power even though no wheat entered interstate commerce.
Plaintiffs' counsel and asbestos manufacturers negotiated a class settlement that created a compensation fund for both present claimants and future claimants who had not yet manifested injury. The settlement's primary purpose of providing a comprehensive resolution mechanism for all asbestos claims supports certification despite the existence of future claimants.
Statements are nontestimonial when the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police to meet an ongoing emergency. Statements are testimonial when there is no ongoing emergency and the primary purpose is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution.
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The test applies to statements made to non-law-enforcement personnel as well, but such statements are less likely to be testimonial when the recipient's role is not principally investigative or prosecutorial.
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An intentional invasion is unreasonable when the primary purpose of the conduct is to cause harm to the neighbor rather than to serve a legitimate use of the actor's own land.
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The Fair Housing Act permits the organization to limit occupancy of its dwellings to persons of the same religion when the housing is operated for other than a commercial purpose.
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…previously obtained. The Court said, in an opinion sustaining the application of the Act to Filburn's activity: "One of the primary purposes of the Act in question was to increase the market price of wheat and to that end to limit the volume thereof that could affect the market. It can hardly be denied that a factor of such…