Hall v. Ewing’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 16 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The official act of a public functionary may be freely criticized, and entire freedom of expression used in argument, sarcasm and ridicule upon the act itself; and that then the occasion will excuse everything but actual malice and evil purpose in the critic; * * * the occasion will not of itself excuse an aspersive attack upon the character and motives of the officer; and that to be excused the critic must show the truth of what he has uttered of that kind.” Hall v. Ewing, 140 La. 908 , 74 South. 190 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Smith v. Lyons

2. “The better view, undoubtedly, is that, except in the case of communications or publications which are qualifiedly privileged, malice on the part of the defendant in uttering or publishing the defamatory words is not necessary to entitle the plaintiff to recover in a civil action all the actual damages which he has sustained by reason of the libel or slander, but may be shown to entitle the plaintiff to recover punitive or exemplary damages.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wattigny v. Lambert