Also known as: sounding · sounded · sounds in · action sounds in
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
A mental state free from disease or disorder that enables a person to understand the nature and consequences of an act.
A mental state free from disease or disorder that enables a person to understand the nature and consequences of an act.
Solomon Silver, age 82, executes a will leaving his estate to his niece. His attorney confirms that Silver understands the nature of his property and the disposition he is making. The will is valid because Silver is of sound mind at the time of execution.
Stella Shapiro lives with her grandchildren in a single-family zone. The city claims the arrangement violates the ordinance. The Court recognizes that the Due Process Clause protects the sanctity of the family unit when the household members are of sound mind and related by blood.
An audio or sound recording that constitutes electronically stored information subject to discovery.
Stephen Shaw serves a Rule 34 request on Samantha Stone seeking production of all sound recordings from their contract negotiation sessions. Stone possesses the files on her computer but claims they are not documents. The court orders production because the files qualify as electronically stored information from which information can be obtained directly.
An electronic symbol or process used to authenticate a record with present intent.
Sofia Stern clicks a button that attaches an electronic sound file to a purchase order. The file is logically associated with the record and executed with intent to authenticate. The signature satisfies the UCC definition because it incorporates an electronic sound process.
An audio or sound recording that constitutes electronically stored information subject to discovery.
An electronic symbol or process used to authenticate a record with present intent.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Sydney Santos serves as trustee of a common trust fund. She mails notice only to beneficiaries known to be of sound mind and full age. The Court holds that publication alone is insufficient for known beneficiaries who are of sound mind and entitled to notice.
The special prosecutor issues a subpoena for sound recordings of Oval Office conversations. The President moves to quash. The Court holds that enforcement lies in the sound discretion of the trial court when necessity turns on factual determinations.
An individual must be free from mental disease or disorder that prevents understanding the nature of the act and its consequences. The Uniform Probate Code requires only that the testator be eighteen or older and of sound mind. Courts presume soundness unless evidence shows otherwise at the time of execution.
Instructions that presume a person of sound mind intends the natural consequences of acts create an unconstitutional mandatory presumption. Such language improperly shifts the burden to the defendant to disprove intent.
Yes. Rule 34 expressly includes sound recordings among the categories of documents and electronically stored information that a party may request. The responding party must produce the recording in a reasonably usable form if necessary after translation.
Yes. The UCC defines sign to include attaching or logically associating an electronic sound with a record when done with present intent to authenticate. The sound functions the same as a tangible symbol or other electronic process.
…I add a few words. Concurring — Stewart, J. In 1963, this Court, in Ferguson v. Skrupa , 372 U.S. 726, purported to sound the death knell for the doctrine of substantive due process, which had been applied to strike down state legislation concerning economic matters. In the 1960's and 1970's, however, the…