John Paff’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 district · 2 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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Probable cause to arrest exists when the information within the arresting officer’s knowledge at the time of the arrest is sufficient to warrant a reasonable law enforcement officer to believe that an offense has been or is being committed by the person to be arrested. See United States v. Cruz, 910 F.2d 1072, 1076 (3d Cir.1990). It “is a fluid concept-turning on the assessment of probabilities in particular factual context-not readily, or even usually, reduced to a neat set of legal rules.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 232 , 103 S.Ct. 2317 , 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). While probable cause to arrest requires more than mere suspicion, the law recognizes that probable cause determinations have to be made “on the spot” under pressure and do “not require the fine resolution of conflicting evidence that a reasonable doubt or even a preponderance standard demands.” Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 121 , 95 S.Ct. 854 , 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975). A “‘common sense’ approach [must be taken] to the issue of probable cause” and a determination as to its existence must be based on “the totality of the circumstances.” Sharrar v. Fels-ing, 128 F.3d 810, 818 (3d Cir.1997).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 107 F. Supp. 2d 512 - Santiago v. City of Vineland

2. “The post offices in question were all set back from the public road and were designed so that patrons could drive from the city street, park in the postal parking lot, and walk from the parking lot to the building on a connecting walkway.”); Paff, 204 F.3d at 433 ("The East Brunswick postal building is set back approximately 75 feet from the nearest thoroughfare, Cranbury Road, which has no adjoining sidewalk. Postal customers enter the building via an access road that connects with Cranbury Road and depart the facility through another access road. As such, the sidewalk area where plaintiffs stood is designed specifically to facilitate access by postal customers to the post office from the parking area.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 545 F. Supp. 2d 162 - Del Gallo v. Parent

3. “[T]he right the official is alleged to have violated must have been ‘clearly established’ in a ... particularized ... sense. The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, ... but it is to say that in light of preexisting law the unlawfulness must be apparent.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 107 F. Supp. 2d 512 - Santiago v. City of Vineland