Elliott v. Fowler’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

34 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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is said innocent purchasers at these sales, or innocent purchasers subsequent to the sales, may be injured, may sustain loss, if this rule is adhered to. That cannot be, though, except the parties to the proceeding have shown, and the court has suffered, such a palpable departure from their plain statutory duty as would result in loss to the infant unless this rule stands. It, then, is the question, which should suffer, if either must — the infant whose utter helplessness makes it impossible for him to know, much less to prevent, the wrongful act, or the adult purchaser, whose ripened judgment and experience and sense of caution, prompted by self interest, all make it his duty, as it is his opportunity, to look and to know, before he parts with his money, whether these plain statutory requirements have been performed? ■Shall such a negligent one, to save himself from loss, which could not have been but for such negligence, be permitted to say to the babe robbed of his patrimony, ‘I am the innocent one’? Or, it may be said, it is the sanctity of the judgments of the courts — ■ their stability — 'that must be upheld. Are the judgments that were made for property rights of more importance than the property rights for which they were made? It is not sound public policy that would tempt perfidy in dealing with infants ’ estates, or at 'best condone their neglect by those intrusted with them, and put a premium upon carelessness. That course is better that admonishes alike guard”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Soper v. Foster