Cope v. Cope’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

28 federal appellate · 13 district · 49 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 172 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Here, then, is the first clear and unqualified declaration of Congress of its disapproval of the legislation of Utah recognizing the inheritable capacity of the issue of polygamous marriages; and so careful is Congress of the rights acquired or existing under these laws that it excepts by special proviso all children declared to be legitimate by the seventh section of the act of March 22, 1882 ( 22 Stat. 31 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3835]), as well as all illegitimate children bom within twelve months after the passage of this act. These several acts of Congress, dealing as they do with the same subject-matter should be construed not only as expressing tbe intention of Congress at the dates the several acts were passed, but the latter acts should also be regarded as legislative interpretations of the prior ones. (United States v. Freeman, 3 How. [U. S.] 556, 564, 11 L. Ed. 724 ; Stockdale v. Insurance Co., 20 Wall. [U. S.] 323, 22 L. Ed. 348 .) Now if it had been intended by the act of 1862 to annul the territorial act of 1852, fixing the inheritable capacity of illegitimate children, why did Congress in 1882, recognize the legitimacy of children bom of polygamous or Mormon marriages prior to January 1, 1883? Or why, in the act of 1887, did it save the rights of such children, as well as of all others born within twelve months after the passage of that act? The object of these enactments is entirely clear. Not only does Congress refrain from adding to the odium which popular”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re Garr's Estate

2. ““It [section 25] does not declare the children of polygamous marriages to be legitimate; in fact, it treats them as illegitimate, or rather it does not except by indirection or inference mention them at all, but it puts all illegitimate children, whether the fruits of polygamous or of ordinary adulterous or illlicit intercourse, upon an equality and vests them with inheritable blood. ... As this act annuls only such territorial laws as shield or countenance polygamy, if we sustain the construction urged by the respondents here, it must necessarily follow that the children of polygamous marriages would be deprived of their power to inherit from the father, while the offspring of other illicit relations would be left to inherit under that act. This would seem to be at war with the intent of the Legislature.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re Garr's Estate

3. ““Annulments of statutes by implication, like- repeals by implication, are not favored by the courts. No statute of a territory will be declared void because it may indirectly or by a construction which is possible but not necessary be repugnant to an act of Congress annulling legislation of the territory; but such a result must be direct and proximate in order to invalidate the statute.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Territory v. Long Bell Lumber Co.