Commonwealth v. Duff’s Empirical Analysis
1963
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 50 later decisions — most recently February 2006 · most notably 248 Pa. Super. 552 - Commonwealth v. Holmes (1977), 267 Pa. Super. 163 - Commonwealth v. Mallon (1979)
2 federal appellate · 46 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Rodriguez v. New York · Com. ex rel. Wilhelm v. Morgan · Commonwealth v. Giovengo · United States ex rel. Giovengo v. Maroney · Commonwealth ex rel. Konchick v. Ceraul
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 50 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"It seems clear that, for the proper operation of a probation system and the attainment of the rehabilitation of the defendant at which it aims, the court must have the power, even after the expiration of the probationary period, to punish a violation which occurs during the period, provided the court acts within a reasonable time after the violation. * * * It seems obvious that a violation which takes place on the last day of the probationary period, or so near the end of the probationary period that the court cannot act within the period, should be punishable by revocation of the probation thereafter. Similarly, a serious violation of the terms of probation which occurs under circumstances which prevent it from coming to the attention of the probation authorities or the court until after the expiration of the probationary period, should be punishable promptly after the court learns of it. * * * "In each such case, the question reduces to whether the delay in the revocation and the imposition of the prison sentence is reasonable. It is sufficient that the court which imposed the probation should act promptly after the violation is discovered or, in the case of an accusation of crime, after the conviction, even though the probationary period has expired meanwhile." Commonwealth v. Duff, supra, 192 A.2d 258 at 262, 263 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Decker v. State“In contrast with other jurisdictions where very detailed provisions as to the conditions which may be imposed and the administration of probation are found in the statutes, in Pennsylvania, the entire administration of adult probation, including the conditions which may be imposed and the extent of the supervision of probationers, has been left to the quarter sessions courts which have had to develop their own systems of probation. This extremely wide variation from county to county which has developed by 1956 is seen in the study made for the Governor’s Commission on Penal Affairs and the Governor’s Commission on Children and Youth made by the National Probation and Parole Association.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.