Smith v. Fitch’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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The next and perhaps the most important question presented in the case, is just what is meant by the two-day period mentioned in the statute within which the contest must be brought in order for the court to entertain jurisdiction. The plaintiff contends that the period should be computed by days, whereas the defendants contend that this delay should be computed by hours as was done by the Supreme Court in the case of Brown v. Democratic Parish Committee, 183 La. 967 , 165 So. 167 . Learned counsel for plaintiff contend that the court in that case did not compute the period of delay reckoning by hours, but our careful reading of the decision convinces us that that was the very method adopted by the court in computing the delay which elapsed between the time that notice of the action of the committee was given and the time that suit was filed. A reading of the separate opinions in that case, including that by the organ of the court in the majority opinion, the concurring opinion of one of the justices, and the dissenting opinion of two of the justices, in all of which reference is particularly made to hours, strengthens us in our conviction that the court interpreted the provision in' the statute with reference to delay by computing the time in hours rather than by days. We feel constrained to follow the interpretation. of the statute in this respect given by the Sitpreme Court.” (Smith v. Fitch, La.App., 194 So. 435, 438 ) (Emphasis added.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 266 So. 2d 549 - Cooper v. Broussard