Also known as: unconstitutionally · unconstitutionality · unconst.
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statute, governmental conduct, court decision, or private contract that violates one or more provisions of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution.
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Umeko Uchida, an executive branch official, issued a deportation order under a statute allowing Congress to override such decisions by resolution of one house. When the House passed a resolution blocking the order, Umeko challenged the override in court. The court held the resolution unconstitutional because it altered legal relations without bicameral passage and presentment to the President.
Uriel Urban was arrested without probable cause during an unconstitutional search of his vehicle. Police later obtained a confession from a witness identified through items seized in that search. The court suppressed the confession as fruit of the poisonous tree because the connection to the illegal arrest had not become sufficiently attenuated.
Ulrike Ulrich, a state election official in a covered jurisdiction, sought to implement a new voter identification law without federal preclearance. The coverage formula relied on data from the 1960s and 1970s. The court held the formula unconstitutional under the Fifteenth Amendment because it treated states unequally without current justification.
Una Ueda, a state health commissioner, continued enforcing a statute later found to violate federal environmental law. Upstream Petroleum sued her in federal court for an injunction halting future enforcement. The court permitted the suit because the officer was stripped of state authority when acting unconstitutionally.
Ulysses Ulrich, a defense attorney, made statements to the press about an ongoing trial. The state bar sought discipline under a rule prohibiting statements with a substantial likelihood of prejudice and containing a vague safe harbor for statements made without elaboration. The court found the rule unconstitutional as applied because it failed to provide fair notice.
Usman Uddin, a nonlawyer insurance adjuster, negotiated a settlement and charged a contingent fee for determining an insured's loss. The insured refused payment, claiming the work constituted the practice of law. The court held the statute authorizing unregulated nonlawyer adjusters unconstitutional and refused to enforce the fee contract.
A statute is unconstitutional if it allows one house of Congress to alter legal rights or duties without bicameral passage and presentment to the President.
Evidence remains admissible if the connection to the illegal search has become so attenuated that the taint is dissipated, considering factors such as temporal proximity and intervening circumstances.
A coverage formula is unconstitutional when it relies on decades-old data to impose disparate treatment on states without current justification under the Fifteenth Amendment.
…an act directing the Secretary at War to place on the pension list disabled officers reported by the circuit courts was deemed unconstitutional so far as it imposed duties on the courts, and after a repeal Congress provided a different mode and enacted that the Secretary of War in conjunction with the Attorney General take measures…