D'Avignon v. Graham’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 44 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 48 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally; in every interpretation we must pass between Scylla and Charybdis; and I certainly do not wish to add to the barrels of ink that have been spent in logging the route. As nearly as we can, we must put ourselves in the place of those who uttered the words, and try to divine how they would have dealt with the unforeseen situation; and, although their words are by far the most decisive evidence of what they would have done, they are by no means final.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State Ex Rel. Helman v. Gallegos · State v. Rivera

2. “[T]he cardinal rule of statutory construction is to determine legislative intent. True, legislative intent is first sought by reference to the plain meaning found in the language used by the legislature. However, both this court and the New Mexico Supreme Court have rejected formalistic and mechanistic interpretation of statutory language.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State Ex Rel. Helman v. Gallegos · US Xpress v. Taxation & Rev. Dept.

3. “Exemption laws rest entirely on constitutional or statutory grounds”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Mannick v. Wakeland