Also known as: official approval · sanction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal license or approval originally required to publish a book under systems of press censorship. By extension the term denotes any official endorsement or sanction that lends authoritative support to an action or statement.
A state statute imposed strict notice rules on contract-for-deed forfeitures. After a vendor complied with every procedural step, the court observed that the statute placed a legislative imprimatur on the forfeiture remedy itself. The ruling therefore limited judicial intervention to verifying technical compliance.
A Senate committee issued a subpoena that a witness refused to obey. The district court entered an order compelling compliance and later held the witness in contempt. That judicial order supplied the imprimatur necessary to authorize sanctions that would compel obedience.
Israel Irving challenged a state law that denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Court held that enforcement of the statute placed the state's imprimatur on an exclusion that demeans those whose liberty is denied. The ruling invalidated the law under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ivy Ibarra's utility company challenged a commission order banning promotional advertising. The Court analyzed whether the regulation received the government's imprimatur in a manner that suppressed protected commercial speech. The decision applied intermediate scrutiny to the restriction.
Irene Ingalls sought to develop land in a residential zone restricted by local ordinance. The Court upheld the zoning measure, noting that its enactment carried the municipality's imprimatur as a valid exercise of police power. The decision confirmed the ordinance's constitutionality.
Idina Iverson challenged a state legislative apportionment plan as diluting votes. The Court determined that the political-question doctrine did not bar review because the plan lacked the imprimatur of a nonjusticiable controversy. The ruling opened the door to equal-protection scrutiny.
The term originally denoted a formal license required to publish a book under historical systems of press censorship.
Courts and commentators use the term to describe any official endorsement or sanction that lends authoritative support to governmental or judicial action.
When private action receives the state's imprimatur through financial interdependence or judicial enforcement, courts may treat the conduct as attributable to the state for constitutional purposes.
A status conference directed by a magistrate judge and involving substantive factual presentations carries the imprimatur of the district court, making the Federal Rules of Evidence applicable.
…here. But when that sincere, personal opposition becomes enacted law and public policy, the necessary consequence is to put the imprimatur of the State itself on an exclusion that soon demeans or stigmatizes those whose own liberty is then denied. Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal…