Also known as: sanciri · sancitus · sanction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A Latin verb meaning to enact, confirm, or prescribe. In modern legal usage the term supplies the root of sanction, denoting a penalty or coercive measure imposed by a court or authority to enforce compliance or punish misconduct.
Vivienne formed Apex Advisory LLC with one thousand dollars and commingled Ralph's investment funds with her personal mortgage payments. When the fund collapsed she transferred the remaining assets to her brokerage account. The court disregarded the LLC form because adherence to the fiction would sanction fraud and allow her to evade personal liability on the guarantees she had given clients.
A shareholder created an undercapitalized entity that ignored corporate formalities and existed only to shield personal assets from creditors. The court applied the two-prong test and pierced the veil because treating the entity as separate would sanction injustice and permit the shareholder to escape liability for the debts he had personally guaranteed.
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Federal narcotics agents conducted a warrantless search of a private residence and arrested the occupant without probable cause. The Supreme Court recognized an implied cause of action allowing the victim to recover damages directly under the Fourth Amendment, thereby sanctioning a remedy against individual officers for constitutional violations.
A state board of education required public school students to salute the flag and recite the pledge under threat of expulsion. The Supreme Court held that the compulsion violated the First Amendment and sanctioned the students' right to refrain from compelled speech without facing official penalty.
A New York statute limited bakers to ten hours of work per day and sixty hours per week. The Supreme Court sanctioned the statute's invalidation under the Due Process Clause, holding that the hours restriction interfered with the liberty of contract between employers and employees.
A city ordinance authorized the taking of private land for a public street without payment. The Supreme Court sanctioned the requirement that just compensation be paid, holding that the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment and obligates payment for the property taken.
A plaintiff must show unity of interest and ownership so that the corporation and shareholder have no separate personalities, and that respecting the corporate form would sanction fraud or promote injustice. Factors such as commingling of funds, failure to observe formalities, and undercapitalization help establish the first element.
A court may impose monetary sanctions only when necessary for effective deterrence and only after the sanctioned party has received notice and an opportunity to respond. The sanction must be limited to what suffices to deter repetition of the conduct.
Yes. Professional misconduct includes accomplishing a violation through the acts of another. A lawyer barred from appearing in a tribunal who drafts pleadings and directs a junior associate to file them while concealing the bar engages in prohibited conduct that subjects the barred lawyer to discipline.
Yes. A lawyer admitted in multiple jurisdictions remains subject to the disciplinary authority of each licensing state for the same course of conduct. The rules expressly recognize that a lawyer may be answerable to more than one jurisdiction.
…n. 18 (McNaughton rev. 1961); Maguire, Evidence of Guilt § 2.062 (1959). This is not to say that short of jail or torture any sanction is permissible in any case; policy and history alike may impose sharp limits. See, e. g. , Griffin v. California , 380 U. S. 609. However, the Court's unspoken assumption that any…