Jacobsen v. Thomas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The out of court statements of the [social] workers, which were contained in their investigative report constitute hearsay evidence. [We] recently held that consideration of investigation reports in a child custody case, without requiring the authors to testify at a hearing, constitutes reversible error. To satisfy the due process rights of the custodial parent and to accurately assess the best interests of the minor child, the trial judge must require “*** the authors of the report to testify at a hearing and be subject to cross-examination ....””

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

2. “We hold that when a court appoints a guardian ad litem under § 40-4-205, MCA, unless the court specifically indicates it intends the guardian to act as an attorney representing the child, the guardian is not to act as an attorney. Instead, the guardian is required to fulfill the statutory role to objectively aid the court in its decisions regarding the best interests of the child.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re K.H.