Propst v. Railroad’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The general office of a proviso is either to except something from the enacting clause or to qualify or restrain its generality or to exclude some possible ground of misinterpretation of it, and usually it is not permitted to enlarge the meaning of the enactment to which it is appended, so as itself to operate as a substantive enactment. It relates generally to what immediately precedes it and is confined by construction to the subject matter of the section of which it is a part. These rules are, however, not absolute and, after all, if the context requires it, the proviso may be construed as extending to, and qualifying other sections or even as being tantamount to an independent provision, the main object being to enforce the will of the Legislature, as it is manifested by the entire enactment. . . . The intention of the lawmaker, if plainly expressed, must have the force of law, though it may be in the form of a proviso, the intention expressed being paramount to form.” (Italics ours.) Accord, Bank v. M’F’G Co., 96 N.C. 298 , 3 S.E. 363 .”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 87 N.C. App. 532 - Barnhill Sanitation Service, Inc. v. Gaston County · Little v. Stevens