Williams v. Olson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Setting aside considerations growing out of the ■difficulties the sheriff would be likely to experience in discovering for himself the truth of the fact stated in the return, and the impropriety of certifying to a fact not within his knowledge, we are of opinion that a, return reciting the fact may be shown to be false, and that actual proper service of the notice may be shown when the return does not recite the fact. The notice and return are in no sense jurisdictional. For this reason, the cases cited by counsel for complainant are not controlling'. But the proper service of notice is a fact which must exist, and must, if questioned, be shown to exist, before the tax title holder is entitled to enter upon the land, to a writ of assistance, or to maintain ejectment. The absence of the fact is therefore also a fact which may be shown in a proceeding begun either by landowner or tax title owner, in affirmance or in avoidance of the tax title and of acts attempted in reliance upon it. It follows, necessarily, that it is open to complainant to question the asserted fact in a proceeding directly affecting the right of the defendants to have possession of the land in question.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Heethuis v. Kerr