Griswold v. Griswold’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““By reason of the statute, and the strong preponderance of authority holding that marriages contracted outside the state are valid here, many such contracts have been entered into in good faith, not for the purpose of violating law, but for the purpose of making valid marriages, and we think much greater harm is likely to 'arise by declaring such marriages invalid than by adhering to the construction generally, given to such statutes. As was said in the Estate of Wood, supra [ 137 Cal. 129 , 69 P. 900 ]: ‘An opposite conclusion to that declared by the court would nullify hundreds of marriages, place the stamp of illegitimacy upon scores of children, and change the source of-title to great property interests. Unless the law plainly points to that end, such a conclusion should not be declared, and, as the court views the law, it is not plainly to that end, but plainly to the contrary.’ If the law as herein declared need be changed, or modified, the remedy is with the Legislature.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Smith v. Goldsmith