Levine v. Kling’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 2 district · 28 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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[B]y operation of the doctrine of collateral estoppel, a valid criminal conviction acts as a bar to overturning that conviction in a civil damages suit,”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dalton Trigg v. Steven Farese, Sr. · Gibson v. Trant

2. “[c]riminal law entitles a criminal defendant to competent counsel, but the consequence if counsel is incompetent and conviction results is a new trial, not an acquittal. E.g., Holman v. Page, 95 F.3d 481, 492 (7th Cir.1996). If the defendant is guilty in law, eventually he will probably be convicted even if competently represented-and he should be. To award the defendant eventually justly convicted and imprisoned substantial money (here $3.5 million is sought) for the loss of his liberty, or for that matter any money, is to give him relief to which criminal law, and the federal constitutional right to counsel, does not entitle him.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 227 W. Va. 627 - Humphries v. DETCH · 298 Ill. App. 3d 672 - Moore v. Owens

3. “If [the plaintiff's] postconviction attacks on the conviction fail, then he cannot bring a malpractice suit even if he is prepared to present evidence that he was innocent in fact, and his conviction was therefore unjust. For by operation of the doctrine of collateral estoppel, a valid criminal conviction acts as a bar to overturning that conviction in a civil damages suit.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gibson v. Trant