State v. Carson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “[W]e find the mandatory sentence constitutional because of the deference we must accord to legislative judgments concerning the means by which crime may be deterred. A legislative body may mandate minimal jail terms for conduct appropriately made criminal. To do so, it is required neither to mandate such terms for all offenses of similar gravity nor to wait until other jurisdictions have similarly acted. It is sufficient that there is a rational basis for concluding that the sentences will help achieve a desired social objective.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Crego