Also known as: rasures · erasure · obliteration
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An act of scraping or shaving the surface of a document to remove writing from it.
Obliteration of written material on a document by physical scraping or shaving.
An act of scraping or shaving the surface of a document to remove writing from it.
Regina Robinson received a signed commitment letter from Roland Rhodes detailing loan terms. After a file-room flood destroyed the original, rasure of the remaining draft occurred when an employee scraped away key clauses. The court permitted oral testimony and an unsigned copy to establish the original terms because rasure did not remove the memorandum's legal effect.
Obliteration of written material on a document by physical scraping or shaving.
Renee Rogers submitted a marriage license application that contained a racial classification notation. An official performed rasure by shaving the surface to remove the notation before filing. The alteration became central to the challenge that the underlying statute imposed unconstitutional restrictions on the couple's right to marry.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Rasure does not deprive a memorandum of its effect under the statute of frauds. The contents may be shown by an unsigned copy or by oral evidence when the original has been erased or destroyed. This rule applies because the statute of frauds is not a rule of evidence.
Ricardo Rojas copied a television program onto a videotape that bore a copyright notice. He then applied rasure by scraping the notice from the tape label. The court considered whether that physical alteration affected the fair-use analysis in the studio's infringement suit.
Rhea Reynolds purchased coastal lots subject to a building restriction recorded in the chain of title. After a storm, an agent performed rasure on the recorded plat by shaving the restriction language. The owner argued that the physical obliteration eliminated the regulatory burden that otherwise constituted a taking.
Robert Rivera obtained a search warrant supported by an affidavit that later disappeared. Police performed rasure on a photocopy by scraping away an informant's name. The defense challenged the validity of the warrant because the altered document could no longer establish probable cause.
Rising Sun Electronics lobbied for a tariff provision that appeared in the enrolled bill signed by the President. A clerk later performed rasure on the official copy by shaving the tariff language. The company argued that the physical change could not alter the statute's legal effect once the bill had become law.
Rasure counts as a physical act of revocation when performed on the will with intent to revoke. The act may be carried out by the testator or by another person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction. Courts treat heavy scraping or shaving that obliterates a clause as effective cancellation even if some words remain legible.
Rasure performed by another person revokes a codicil when the agent acts in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction with revocatory intent. The physical scraping or shaving constitutes a canceling or obliterating act even if the document remains in the safe.
Rasure directed at a single paragraph or gift constitutes a valid physical act of partial revocation when done with intent to revoke that portion. The act need not touch every word of the bequest and need not be accompanied by a new will or codicil.
Rasure undertaken in reliance on a failed dispositive scheme or false factual assumption is presumptively ineffective. The law presumes the testator would not have wanted the earlier gift destroyed unless the new plan succeeded, so the original provision remains in force.
…the racial integrity of its citizens,” and to prevent “the corruption of blood,” “a mongrel breed of citizens,” and “the obliteration of racial pride,” obviously an endorsement of the doctrine of White Supremacy. Id. , at 90, 87 S. E. 2d, at 756. The court also reasoned that marriage has traditionally been subject to…