Presumption in United States

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

An inference about the existence of one fact from the existence of some other fact, founded upon a previous experience of their connection. Presumption of law requires that a particular inference must be drawn from an ascertained state of facts. For example, a child of seven is, under the common law (in U.S. law) rule, conclusively presumed to be incapable of committing a crime.

Presumption of fact is a term used to describe a logical inference that the court is authorized, but not required, to draw from the evidence in the case. As an example, it might be inferred that a person in possession of a murder weapon committed the murder.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

What is Presumption?

For a meaning of it, read Presumption in the Legal Dictionary here. Browse and search more U.S. and international free legal definitions and legal terms related to Presumption.

Resources

See Also

Further Reading (Articles)

Presumption-Of-Adequacy Defense Is Clarified And Reinforced.(Dora Bailey v. Wyeth inc)(Case overview), Mondaq Business Briefing; December 30, 2011

Colliding presumptions.(Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act 2001), LawNow; July 1, 2008; Mitchell, Teresa

Rescher, Nicholas. Presumption and the Practices of Tentative Cognition.(Book review), The Review of Metaphysics; December 1, 2007; Jaspers, Andrew

The Puzzling Presumption of Reviewability, Harvard Law Review; March 1, 2014; Bagley, Nicholas

The Irreparably Harmed Presumption? Why the Presumption of Irreparable Harm in Trademark Law Will Survive eBay and Winter, Brigham Young University Law Review; March 1, 2011; Sanchez, Jeffrey M.

Florida’s new statutory presumption of undue influence: does it change the law or merely clarify?, Florida Bar Journal; February 1, 2003; Nilsson, Steven G.

Presumptive reasoning applied to legal doctrine: Presumptions and burdens of proof as tools for legal stability and change, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy; July 1, 1994; Frankel, Tamar

Trashing the Presumption: Intervention on the Side of the Government, Environmental Law; March 22, 2009; Black, Kathy

New Jersey Supreme Court Confirms “Super Presumption” Of FDA Label.(Case overview), Mondaq Business Briefing; March 27, 2012; Rosenberg, Ezra

The wild and wooly world of inference and presumptions – when silence is deafening., Florida Bar Journal; November 1, 2005; Morman, Daniel

The “Fraud-on-the-Market” Presumption of Reliance Revisited: Supreme Court Declines to Require Proof of Materiality at Class Certification Stage, Mondaq Business Briefing; March 11, 2013

The Presumption of Jury Competence: Sarrazin’s New Acknowledgment of Cognitive Biases and Its Implications for Counsel, University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review; March 22, 2013; Freeman, Hannah

Presumption of Innocence Doctrine Is Topic of Scientific Paper, US Fed News Service, Including US State News; March 21, 2014;

Irrebuttable Presumption, Encyclopedia of the American Constitution; January 1, 2000

Advancing the Best Interests of the Child: Why South Dakota Should Strengthen Its Rebuttable Presumption against Awarding Custody to Abusive Parents, South Dakota Law Review; June 22, 2011; Lamprecht, Rebecca S.

The Misperception and Ensuing Error concerning the Presumption of Arbitrability in New York Public Employment, Albany Law Review; December 22, 1999; Ruffo, Philip J.;

New Life For Stock-Drop Lawsuits: Sixth Circuit Rejects Moench Presumption At Pleading Stage.(Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)(Moench v. Robertson 62 F.3d 553 (3d Cir. 1995)), Mondaq Business Briefing; March 6, 2012

Ninth Circuit Rejects Presumption of Irreparable Harm for Trademark Owners, Mondaq Business Briefing; December 11, 2013; Wakefield, Jedediah

The “Fraud-on-the-Market” Presumption of Reliance Revisited: Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Amgen Inc. V. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, Mondaq Business Briefing; November 22, 2012

Presumption against war or presumption against injustice? The just war tradition reconsidered., Journal of Church and State; March 22, 2005; Charles, J. Daryl