Commonwealth v. Sheatz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Under the well-settled rules of interpretation, the constitution of the commonwealth having fixed the, term of office of state treasurer at two years, the respondent’s term expired at the end of that period, and thereafter he could not exercise the functions of the office. The term of office fixed by the constitution is expressly limited to a definite number of years, and it is not within the power of the legislature, directly or indirectly, to extend it beyond the prescribed period. There is no implied right to hold beyond the fixed tenure or of the legislature to extend the term; on the contrary, under the established rule of constitutional construction, there is an implied prohibition against the right of the legislature to add to the term where the constitution has definitely prescribed the duration of the tenure. This inhibition prevents the incumbent holding over which is simply the prolongation of the old term. The legislature is without power to abridge or extend the term or to change or add to the qualifications of a constitutional office unless it is expressly or by necessary implication conferred by the constitution. This is a settled principle of construction necessarily resulting from the supremacy of the organic law. It is recognized in the adjudicated cases. “In State v. Howe, 25 Ohio St. 588 , 18 Am. Rep. 321 , Chief Justice Mcllvaine, after reviewing all the authorities on the subject, said (page 589) : “ ‘After a careful examination of the question, in the ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ex Rel. Williamson v. Morton