Jefferson v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis
1974
Citation profile
22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 22 later decisions — most recently March 1990
22 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 Furman v. Georgia · Nathan Thomas v. W. K. Cunningham, Jr., Superintendent of the Virginia State Penitentiary · Greenfield v. Commonwealth · Noell v. Commonwealth · Crockett v. Commonwealth
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.
“`(2) To escape from such penal institution or from any person in charge of such inmate; or * * * * * *”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““While conceding that death is the only penalty which may be imposed upon conviction of killing a prison guard . the defendant argues that ‘the statute’s operation inevitably requires the exercise of a broad range of uncontrolled selective discretion’ by Commonwealth’s attorneys and trial judges and that the Governor of Virginia could extend executive clemency. . “The substance of this argument is that a statute imposing the death penalty is constitutionally infirm under Furman where any discretion may be exercised by any authority at any time, either before, during or after trial. “We do not so construe Furman. The constitutional infirmity there was found in fixing punishment, be it by a jury or a judge. Furman’s application is thus limited to statutes which permit such discretion to be exercised.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“"Malcolm Marvin Jefferson was convicted in the trial court of killing a prison guard. At the time the offense was committed defendant was an inmate of a Virginia penal institution. He appeals the judgment of the trial court imposing the death penalty, fixed by the jury's verdict and made mandatory by statute. Code § 53-291.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.