State v. Kool’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 1 district · 14 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “As noted above, the flag desecration statute makes it a misdemeanor: (1) to place any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature, upon any flag, standard, color, ensign, shield, or other insignia of the United States, or upon any flag, ensign, great seal, or other insignia of this state; (2) to expose to public view, any such flag, standard, color, ensign, shield, or other insignia of the United States, or any such flag, ensign, great seal, or other insignia of this state, upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed, any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; (3) to expose to public view, manufacture, sell, expose for sale, give away, or have in possession for sale, or to give away, or for use for any purpose any article or substance, being an article of merchandise or a receptacle of merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached or otherwise placed, a representation of any such flag, standard, color, ensign, shield, or other insignia of the United States, or any such flag, ensign, great seal, or other insignia of this state; (4) to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed; (5) for a person to publicly mutilate, deface, defile or defy, trample upon, cast contempt upon,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 479 F. Supp. 2d 995 - Roe v. Milligan

2. “This is not to say we are completely sure that no one would be violent. Someone in Newton might be so intemperate as to disrupt the peace because of this display. But if absolute assurance of tranquility is required, we may as well forget about free speech. Under such a requirement, the only “free” speech would consist of platitudes. That kind of speech does not need constitutional protection. [AV]e will uphold incursion upon symbolic expression on the basis of probable violence only when we are convinced that violence really is probable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. United States Ex Rel. Radich v. Criminal Ct. of NY

3. “We construe statutory words according to the approved usage of the language. But “[statutes defining crimes are to be strictly construed and not to be held to include charges plainly without the fair scope and intendment of the language of the statute, though within its reason and policy, and in the event of doubts they are to be resolved in favor of the accused.””

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