demurrer
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 48 U.S. 573 - John Tyler · 1849Most cited · 39 citing opinions
A demurrer is an objection made by one party to his opponent's pleading, alleging that he ought not to answer it, for some defect in law in the pleading. It admits the facts, and refers the law arising thereon to the court. The opposite party may demur when his opponent's pleading is defective in substance or form, but there can be no demurrer for a defect not apparent in the pleadings... A general demurrer lies only for defects in substance, and excepts to the sufficiency of the pleading in general terms, without showing specially the nature of the objection. A special demurrer is only for defects in form, and adds to the terms of a general demurrer a specification of the particular ground of exception.
How the Supreme Court has restated “demurrer”
Each Supreme Court definition of “demurrer,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “demurrer”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “demurrer” — 49 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1849–1913
it is the office of a demurrer to call in question the sufficiency of a declaration or other pleading upon what appears upon its face, without reference to any extrinsic matter
since a demurrer has the necessary effect of admitting the facts alleged in the complaint, a demand for a trial by jury is quite incongruous; for a jury has no function to perform where the facts are admitted.
effect on jury trial demand