State v. Townsend’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A person sends an e-mail message with the expectation that it will be read and perhaps printed by another person. To be available for reading or printing, the message first must be recorded on another computer's memory. Like a person who leaves a message on a telephone answering machine, a person who sends an e-mail message anticipates that it will be recorded. That person thus implicitly consents to having the message recorded on the addressee's computer.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Roden · State v. Racus

2. “[i]t thus makes no difference that Mr. Townsend could not have completed the crime because `Amber' did not exist. He is guilty ... if he intended to have sexual intercourse with her.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Townsend · State v. Patel

3. “(1) ... it shall be unlawful for any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or the state of Washington, its agencies, and political subdivisions to intercept, or record any: (a) Private communication transmitted by telephone, telegraph, radio, or other device between two or more individuals between points within or without the state by any device electronic or otherwise designed to record and/or transmit said communication regardless how such device is powered or actuated without first obtaining the consent of all the participants in the communication. (Emphasis added.)”

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