Terry v. Cornett’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

10 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “If it was necessary in all cases to delay making an appointment to fill a vacancy until the office was actually vacant, much confusion and disorder in the public service might be occasioned, and so we think that an appointment may be made within a reasonable time before the vacancy actually exists, to take effect when it occurs, if it be made by the authority that would have the right to make the appointment when the vacancy does occur. A person cannot be appointed presently to fill a vacancy when there is no vacancy, but he [or she] can be appointed to fill a vacancy that will shortly occur; his appointment to take effect when it does. This view of the law ... is generally accepted as correct. We can well understand that there might be good reasons presented against the practice of making an appointment to fill a vacancy that would occur at a distant date, and have no doubt that it would be very objectionable to allow an official to make an appointment to take effect in the future when the vacancy to fill ... would occur in the term of a succeeding official. To uphold the validity of such an appointment would oftentimes enable an official to take from his [or her] successor a part of the rightful powers and emoluments of his [or her] office and surround him [or her] with ... appointees not in harmony with his [or her] methods, or in sympathy with his [or her] purposes.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Representative Donald Turner, Jr. and Senator Joseph Benning v. Governor Peter Shumlin

2. ““We can well understand that there might be good reasons presented against the practice of making an appointment to fill a vacancy that would occur at a distant date, and have no doubt that it would be very objectionable to allow an official to make an appointment to take effect in the future when the' vacancy to fill which the appointment was made would occur in the term of a succeeding official. To uphold the validity of such an appointment would oftentimes enable an official to take from Ms successor a part of tbe rightful.powers and emoluments of his office, and surround him with offensive appointees not in harmony with his methods or in sympathy with his purposes. Upon grounds of public policy an official charged with the responsibility of administering the affairs of his office should have the right, in the absence of a statute to the contrary, to select persons to fill vacancies occurring during his term that the law- authorized him to make appointments for.”-”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Harrod v. Hoover