1999 Pa. Super. 101 - Commonwealth v. Dallenbach’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The relative informality of juvenile proceedings, as compared to the rigidity of the rules of the adversarial criminal system, reflects the differing goals of the juvenile system, reformation and rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment and retribution. The role of the state as parens patriae for the juvenile in delinquency proceedings further emphasizes the contrast in goals of the two systems. The state’s role as protector does not eliminate the juvenile’s rights to a 'fundamentally fair’ proceeding under the due process clause. Rather, in its protective role the state must consider the importance of time in a developing child’s life in attempting to fashion a successful rehabilitation program for each juvenile. As the juvenile years are marked with significant changes and rapid development, children experience an acceleration in the passage of time so that, to a juvenile, one year may seem to be five. To ensure successful rehabilita tion, the reformation program (including punishment) must commence within a reasonable time of the child’s delinquent act so that the child can comprehend the consequences of his act and the need for reform. As a result, the concept of ‘fundamental fairness’ in juvenile proceedings would seem to require that at least some limit be placed on the length of time between the delinquent act and the case disposition, including any associated punishment.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. In Re Thomas J. · In Re KK