A DIVORCE premised on the ground of irreconcilable differences is considered a no- fault divorce since there is no need to establish that one party is more responsible or at fault for the end of the marriage than the other. IRREGULARITY A defect, failure, or mistake in a legal proceeding or lawsuit; a departure from a prescribed rule or regulation. An irregularity is not an unlawful act, how- ever, in certain i nstances, it is sufficiently serious to render a lawsuit invalid. For example, a number of states have statutes that require the appointment of a guardian to represent the interests of a child who is being sued. The failure to do so is an irregularity that can be used as a ground for invalidating and setting aside a judgment entered against the child. In other cases, however, the flaw might be a simple HARMLESS ERROR that can be easily rectified, and, therefore, does not render the proceeding invalid. IRRELEVANT Unrelated or inapplicable to the matter in issue. Irrelevant evidence has no tendency to prove or disprove any contested fact in a lawsuit. IRREPARABLE INJURY Any harm or loss that is not easily repaired, restored, or compensated by monetary damages. A serious wrong, generally of a repeated and con- tinuing nature, that has an equitable remedy of injunctive relief. IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE A test applied in a criminal prosecution to deter- mine whether a person accused of a crime was compelled by a mental disease to commit it and therefore cannot be held criminally responsible for her or his actions; in a wrongful death case, a compulsion to commit suicide created by the defendant. In most jurisdictions, a person may defend criminal charges on a ground of insanity. The INSANITY DEFENSE comes in two main forms. First, a DEFENDANT may argue that because of mental disease or defect, he or she lacked the capacity to distinguish right from wrong. This is cognitive insanity. Second, a defendant may argue that because of mental disease or defect, she or he was unable to act in conformance with the law. This is volitional insanity, and it is known as the irresistible impulse defense. Under this defense, a defendant may be found not guilty by reason of insanity even though she or he was capable of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the offense. The success of an irresistible impulse defense depends on the facts of the case. For example, assume that a child has been molested. If the child’s mother shoots and kills the suspected molester, the mother could argue that she was so enraged by the violation of her child that she was unable to control her actions. The mother need not have been diagnosed as mentally ill. Rather, she would need to show that she was mentally ill at the time of the shooting, and that the illness impaired her self-control. Irresistible impulse emerged as a defense in the nineteenth century, when psychoanalysts formulated the concept of moral insanity to describe the temporary inability of otherwise sane persons to resist criminal behavior. Courts began to recognize the condition as one that rendered conduct involuntary and therefore not suitable for punishment. For the better part of a century, many states allowed both cognitive insanity and irresistible impulse insanity as defenses. Congress and most states abolished the irresistible impulse defense after John Hinckley was acquitted on grounds of insanity for the attempted ASSASSINATION of President RONALD REAGAN in 1981. Only a handful of states currently allow irresistible impulse as a defense to criminal charges. These states permit it as a supplement to the cognitive insanity defense, which is the only insanity defense recognized in most jurisdictions. On the federal level, Congress abolished the irresistible impulse defense in the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 (18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1 note, 17). In some states, the irresistible impulse defense has never been adopted. In others, it has been adopted and subsequently withdrawn. Where it has been rejected, the reasons are generally the same: to prevent sane persons from escaping liability simply because they were unable to control their actions. In the words of one court, “There are many appetites and passions which by long indulgence acquire a mastery over men but the law is far from GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 528 IRREGULARITY excusing criminal acts committed under the impulse of such passions” (State v. Brandon, 53 N.C. 463 [1862]). Under the MODEL PENAL CODE definition of irresistible impulse, a person may be found not guilty by reason of insanity if, at the time of the offense, he or she lacked “substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of [the] conduct or to conform [the] conduct to the requirements of law” (§ 4.01(1) [1962]). The “lacked substantial capacity” language creates a low threshold for the defendant: in so me states, the defendant must allege complete impairment in order to invoke the defense. Irresistible impulse is also a factor in civil actions. When a person commits suicid e, sur- vivors may sue for damages with a WRONGFUL DEATH claim or similar action if they can show that the suicide was caused by the actions of another person. In such a case, the plaintiffs must prove that the defendant caused a mental condition that caused the decedent to experi- ence an irresistible impulse to commit suicide. FURTHER READINGS Falk, Patricia J. 1996. “Novel Theories of Criminal Defense Based upon the Toxicity of the Social Environment: Urban Psychosis, Television Intoxication, and Black Rage.” North Carolina Law Review 74. Gresham, Anne C. 1993. “The Insanity Plea: A Futile Defense for Serial Killers.” Law & Psychology Review 17. Kahan, Dan M. 1996. “Two Conceptions of Emotion in Criminal Law. ” Columbia Law Review 96. Available online at http://www.pennumbra.com/issues/pdfs/156- 3/Kahan.pdf; website home page: http://www.pennum- bra.com (accessed August 2, 2009). IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF MARRIAGE The situation that exists when either or both spouses no longer are able or willing to live with each other, thereby destroying their husband and wife relationship with no hope of resumption of spousal duties. The irretrievable breakdown of a marriage provides the ground for a no-fault DIVORCE in many jurisdictions. IRREVOCABLE Unable to cancel or recall; that which is unalterable or irreversible. IRS See INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. ISLAND A land area surrounded by water and remaining above sea level during high tide. Land areas exposed only dur ing low tide are called low-tide elevations or drying rocks, reefs, or shoals. The existence of islands has generated numerous disputes, centering primarily on the size of the territorial sea surrounding an island and the determination of what state has sover- eignty over a particular island. The size of the territorial sea has become an important question affecting fishing rights and the right of unrestrict- ed passage for foreign vessels. Although the territorial sea of an island is usually determined by reference to its coastal baseline, some adjust- ments have been recognized in the cases of archipelagoes and islands located close to the mainland. Determination of what state has title to an island has traditionally depended upon an open and continuous assertion of sove reignty over the island, which is usually, but not always, accompanied by physical presence of some representative of the state . CROSS REFERENCE Territorial Waters. ISSUE To promulgate or send out. In a lawsuit, a disputed point of law or QUESTION OF FACT, set forth in the pleadings, that is alleged by one party and denied by the other. In the law governing the transfer or distribution of property, a child, children, and all individuals who descend from a common ancestor or descend- ents of any degree. As applied to notes or bonds of a series, date of issue means the day fixed as the start of the period for which they run, with no reference to a specific date when the bonds or notes are to be sold and delivered. With regard to bonds only, bonds are issued to the purchaser when they are delivered. When an issue of fact arises, the court or jury mu st consider and evaluate the weight of the ev idence in order to reach a decision. An issue of law exists thereby providing a ground for a SUMMARY JUDGMENT sought by a party to the action when only one conclusion can be drawn by the court from the undisputed evidence, obviating the need for deliberation by a jury. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION ISSUE 529 The term issue is frequently found in provisions of a deed. In TESTAMENTARY matters, the meaning of issue i s derived from the intent of the TESTATOR, a maker of a will. The intent is determined from the provisi ons of the will. ISSUE PRECLUSION A concept that refers to the fact that a particular question of fact or law, one that has already been fullylitigatedbythepartiesinanactionfor which there has been a judgment on the merits, cannot be relitigated in any future action involving the same parties or their pr ivies (persons who would be bound by the judgment rendered for the party). The term issue preclusion is synonymous with COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL, a doctrine which bars the relitigation of the same issue that was the basis of a finding or VERDICT in an action by the same parties or their privies in subsequent lawsuits involving the same or different causes of action. It is not, however, the same as the doctrine of RES JUDICATA which bars the relitiga- tion of an entire CAUSE OF ACTION,claimor demand, as opposed to an issue that makes up a cause of action, claim, or demand. ITEMIZE To individually state each item or article. Frequently used in tax accounting, an item- ized account or claim separately lists amounts that add up to the final sum of the total account on claim. ITEMIZED DEDUCTION See INCOME TAX. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 530 ISSUE PRECLUSION . the words of one court, “There are many appetites and passions which by long indulgence acquire a mastery over men but the law is far from GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 52 8 IRREGULARITY excusing. deliberation by a jury. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION ISSUE 52 9 The term issue is frequently found in provisions of a deed. In TESTAMENTARY matters, the meaning of issue i s derived. lists amounts that add up to the final sum of the total account on claim. ITEMIZED DEDUCTION See INCOME TAX. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 53 0 ISSUE PRECLUSION