Polk v. Brown’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

25 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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In our opinion, the weight of the evidence should not be affected by any particular rule peculiar to the subject, but rather the court should be left to determine from all the circumstances disclosed whether the certificate of acknowledgment is true or false. This much may be said, however, under chapter 29 of Kirby’s Digest, a proper acknowledgment is an essential part of the execution of a conveyance. The acknowledgment is an official act done under an official oath and is protected under the presumption the law necessarily indulges in favor of the acts of its own officers. Under our statute, one of the means of evidence upon which a deed can be admitted to record is a certificate of proof or acknowledgment of an officer authorized by our statute to take such proof or acknowledgment. The burden of proof undoubtedly rests upon the person denying the falsity of the certificate which carries with it the usual presumption that the officer making it ■has certified to the truth, and has not been gulity of a wrongful or criminal action.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nevada County Bank v. Gee