State v. Ramsdell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 7 district · 45 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The defendant fails to distinguish a detention from an arrest. We have made such a distinction in Kavanagh v. Stenhouse, 93 R.I. 252 , 174 A.2d 560 (1961), when we referred to the fact that § 12-7-1 expressly authoriz es a peace officer to detain any person found abroad whom the officer reasonably suspects has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime and to ask the suspect for his name, address, the reason for his presence abroad and his destination. While this court believes it highly desirable that a citizen’s travel upon the streets of our municipalities be unimpeded, we wish to make it clear that there is nothing ipso facto unconstitutional in the police briefly stopping a citizen under circumstances not justifying an arrest for the purpose of a limited inquiry during a routine police investigation. United States v. Oswald, 441 F.2d 44 (9th Cir. 1971). Although the Fourth Amendment prohibits the ‘unreasonable seizures’ of persons, not every detention of an individual constitutes an unreasonable seizure. People v. Morales, 22 N.Y.2d 55 , 290 N.Y. S.2d 898, 238 N.E.2d 307 (1968). There are circumstances short of establishing the probable cause necessary to make an arrest that can warrant an officer’s stopping a pedestrian or motorist on the streets for questioning. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); People v. Mickelson, 59 Cal.2d 448 , 30 Cal.Rptr. 18 , 380 P.2d 658 (1963); Stone v. People, Colo., 485 P.2d 495 (1971); People v”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lim v. Andrukiewicz

2. ““At approximately one-half hour after midnight on July 29, 1966, in the city of Providence, Officer Leonard F. De-Magistris and Officer Reginald L. Iarocci were on patrol in an unmarked police car. Both officers were in uniform. They had been ordered to maintain a close watch on a construction site located near the intersection of Pine and Claverick Streets because this location had been the scene of recent thefts and acts of vandalism. As they approached the site, they observed four individuals, one or more of whom were throwing rocks at a shed used to house various tools and building equipment. As the police approached, the four ‘separated.’ Officer DeMagistris ‘went’ to defendant and asked bis name. Ramsdell replied by asking the officer Ms name. The officer then asked Ramsdell where he lived. The defendant responded by asking, ‘Who wants to know?’ and embellished this remark by punching the officer in the mouth causing a laceration of the lip. The defendant was subdued and brought to police headquarters.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lim v. Andrukiewicz

3. “There is a reasonable rationale for one rule which requires a citizen to quietly yield to an unlawful arrest and another rule permitting a citizen to use reasonable force to counter the excessive force of an arresting officer. Implicit in the adoption of these two principles is a recognition that liberty can be quickly restored by resort to the legal profession and an acknowledgment that, unless a citizen is afforded the opportunity to protect himself, the restoration of a fractured limb falls within the exclusive province of the medical profession. The abolition of the common-law right to resist an unlawful arrest, therefore, is in no way related to the citizen’s right to protect himself from the excessive force of what might be described as an overzealous police officer.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Barnes v. State