Johnson v. Ebberts’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 2 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “" “The plaintiff testified that the reason he had the defendant arrested was, ‘He had my note, and I wanted to know how he got it.’ But no one has a right to cause the arrest of another as an experiment, for the purpose of finding out who committed a particular crime. This is trifling with the liberty and good name of another, which the law does not justify or excuse. But it must appear that the arrest was malicious, as well as without probable cause, before 1he defendant can be held responsible in damages. It is not claimed that there is any direct evidence of malice, but only that it is sufficiently shown by the circumstances of the case. The malice necessary to sustain this action is not express malice, a specific desire to vex or injure another from malevolence or motives of ill will, but the willful doing of an unlawful act to the prejudice or injury of another. Frowman v. Smith, 12 .Am. Dec. 2<i8.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Roza v. Smith