People v. Cahill’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 federal appellate · 17 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 37 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The only possible reason for having this cockeyed sentencing scheme — and for insisting that capital jurors be informed of it — is to put pressure on [jurors in the minority] holding out for life to switch to death so that the defendant is not made eligible for parole as a result of a nonunanimous verdict”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. People v. LaValle

2. “"The court must also instruct the jury that in the event the jury fails to reach unanimous agreement with respect to the sentence, the court will sentence the defendant to a term of imprisonment with a minimum term of between twenty and twenty-five years and a maximum term of life."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. People v. LaValle

3. “entertains such conscientious opinions either against or in favor of such punishment as to preclude such juror from rendering an impartial verdict or from properly exercising the discretion conferred upon such juror by law in the determination of a sentence”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. People v. LaValle