Seefried v. Hummel’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is plaintiffs’ second claim that is at issue here. In this claim, plaintiffs allege that Richard Seefried had been employed with the church subject to an ‘express indefinite contract’ that contained ‘reciprocal duties of good faith and fair dealing.’ They further allege that, in violation of the church’s constitution and its contract of employment with Richard Seefried, the church and the board arranged a ‘public meeting’ with its members to discuss apparent discomfort with him as their pastor. Plaintiffs claim that, in violation of internal church procedure and its contract with Richard Seefried, all defendants participated in the meeting, signed petitions, or made false, slanderous, or libelous statements against plaintiffs, and that Richard See-fried was unlawfully terminated as a result of this meeting. Plaintiffs claim that as a consequence, all defendants are liable for ‘slander, libel, the intentional interference with business relationships, and outrageous conduct’ for the statements made during this meeting.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Higgs v. Bole

2. “In certain cireumstances, the First Amendment precludes a court from exercising jurisdiction over claims concerning a religious institution's activities on matters of religious doctrine or authority.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. CRESTVIEW SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH