Jennings v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 11 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The rule that penal laws are to be construed strictly is, perhaps not much less old than construction itself. It is founded in the tenderness of the law for the rights of individuals, and on the plain principle that the power of punishment is vested in the legislative, not the judicial, department * * *. The case must be a strong one, indeed, which would justify a court in departing from the plain meaning of words, especially in a penal act, in search of an intention which the words themselves do not suggest. To determine that a case is within the intention of a statute its language must authorize us to say so. “It would be dangerous, indeed, to carry the principle, that a case which is within the reason or mischief of a statute, is within its provisions, so far as to punish a crime not enumerated in the statute, because it is of kindred character with those which are enumerated.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Williams v. Hot Shoppes, Inc.

2. ““if any person, under promise of marriage, seduce and have illicit connection with any unmarried female of previous chaste character, ... shall be guilty of a felony, etc.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Dickens v. Snellings (In Re Snellings)