Moxley v. Hertz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 5 district · 1 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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The question here is whether we shall exaggerate a slight use of a ‘statutory ingredient’ into a substantial use of it, and by doing so bring its use within the permission of the statute, and relieve the product of which it is a ‘slight’ part from a tax of 10 cents. * * * But the contention contravenes the rule in the Cliff Case, where the distinction was made between the mere addition of an authorized food ingredient and its service in the compound for something more substantial than coloration. We now repeat it. Any other rule would give too easy a way to evade the statute and make its purpose yield, not to what is essential to the manufacture of oleomargarine, but what is nonessential, and render a law which was intended to prevent deception an easy means to accomplish it.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Moxley v. Hertz · Foley v. Miller

2. ““If in the production of oleomargarine the mixtures or compounds set out in the law of 1886 are used, and these compounds are all free from artificial coloration and no artificial coloration is produced by the addition of coloring matter as an independent and separate ingredient, a tax of one-fourth of 1 cent per pound only will be collected, although the finished product may look like butter of some shade of yellow. For example, if butter that has been artificially colored is used as a component part of the finished product oleomargarine (and that finished. product looks like butter of any shade of yellow) as the oleomargarine is not free from artificial coloration, the tax of 10 cents per'pound will be assessed and collected. But if butter is absolutely free from artificial coloration, or cotton seed oil free from artificial coloration, or any other of the mixtures or compounds legally used in the manufacture of the finished product oleomargarine has naturally a shade of yellow in no way produced by artificial coloration, and through the use of one or more of these unartifieially colored legal component parts of oleomargarine the finished product should look like butter of any shade of yellow, this product will be subject to a tax of only one-fourth of 1 cent per pound, as it is absolutely free from artificial coloration that has caused it to look like butter of any shade of yellow.””

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

3. ““But in this enumeration Congress included, not only those substances which entered into the composition of oleomargarine, make it suitable for food, and, so to speak, form its body, but also others used only for coloring. After naming some, it adds specifically, ‘and other coloring matter.’ The purpose- in so including ‘coloring matter’ is obvious. It was to prevent excluding from the operation of the statute anything in its nature oleomargarine by the addition of a substance not' in reality an ingredient, but serving substantially only the purpose of coloring the produet to cause it to look like butter. The fact that one of the ingredients of this compound is palm oil does not show that such oil does anything else than color the product composed of other ingredients, and if it does substantially only this it is rightfully styled an artificial coloration. * * * Bearing in mind, also, that one of the purposes of this legislation was to prevent the sale of oleomargarine as and for butter, it must be held that when any substance, although named as a possible ingredient of oleomargarine, substantially serves only the function of coloring the mass, and so as to cause the product to ‘look like butter of any shade of yellow,’ it is an artificial coloration.””

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