134 W. Va. 439 - Hamill v. Koontz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

37 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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “29. Plaintiffs appear to attempt to state claims against the State of West Virginia and its agencies, e.g., the defendant Board and the defendant State Police, as if the State were a separate and independent entity. The Complaint contains no allegation that attempts to define what the plaintiffs intend when they refer to the “State of West Virginia” as opposed to its State agencies, such as the Board and the State Police, that are also expressly named. 30. Certain allegations in the Complaint attribute particular characteristics to the State, when those characteristics are equally attributable to a named defendant State agency, e.g., in paragraph 60 of the Complaint, the “State” is alleged to administer two retirement plans, when those plans are administered by the Board as expressly provided by W. Va.Code § 5- 10D-1. However, with the exception of the cited paragraph, i.e., Complaint ¶ 60, there appeal’s to be no other express reference to the State, either as an actor or a defendant independent of its agencies. 31. The State is capable of acting only through its various agencies and departments. As a practical consequence of the expansion of government and the proliferation of bodies charged with conducting the State’s business, we have recognized that “proceedings against boards and commissions, created by the Legislature, as agencies of the State, are suits against the state within the meaning of Article VI, Section 35, of the Constitution of West Virginia, even though th”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bland v. State

2. “"The opinion in the Hamill case also contains this quotation from 49 Am.Jur., States, Territories and Dependencies, Section 92: `While a suit against state officials is not necessarily a suit against the state, within the rule of immunity of the state from suit without its consent, that rule cannot be evaded by bringing an action nominally against a state officer or a state board, commission, or department in his or its official capacity when the real claim is against the state itself, and the state is the party vitally interested. If the rights of the state would be directly and adversely affected by the judgment or decree sought, the state is a necessary party defendant, and if it cannot be made a party, that is, if it has not consented to be sued, the suit is not maintainable. The state's immunity from suit without its consent is absolute and unqualified, and a constitutional provision securing it is not to be so construed as to place the state within the reach of the process of the court.' . . ." [153 W.Va. at 129-30, 168 S.E.2d at 303 ]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 164 W. Va. 19 - Ables v. Mooney

3. “"A suit against an officer of the State who acts or threatens to act under an unconstitutional statute, with the enforcement of which he is charged, is a suit against him in his individual capacity, as for a wrong done by him, and not against the State; but if a suit directly involves a contract right or liability on the part of the State government or property belonging to it or in its custody it is deemed to be a suit against the State. See Coal and Coke Railway Company v. Conley and Avis, 67 W.Va. 129 , 67 S.E. 613 . . . ." [ 134 W.Va. at 444 , 59 S.E.2d at 882 ]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 164 W. Va. 19 - Ables v. Mooney