Marks v. Eckerman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 8 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. ““The term ‘magistrate’ has no single or universal meaning. ‘It may be used as a generic term with a general sense, or in a narrow or strict sense. “ ‘In its narrow sense a magistrate is regarded, perhaps commonly so, as an inferior judicial officer, such as a justice of the peace; * * * an officer having power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person charged with the commission of a crime or public offense. “ ‘In its general sense the term imports a public officer, exercising a public authority; a public civil officer, possessing such power, legislative, executive, or judical, as the government appointing him may ordain; a person clothed with power as a public civil officer.’ 48 C.J.S. Judges § 2, p. 951, citing Compton v. [State of] Alabama, supra, * * * * * 'Jfi “It thus appears that, where the prosecution is by affidavit under the Indiana statutes, the prosecuting attorney is empowered to determine whether to file the charge and the clerk is authorized to issue the warrant thereon, in the absence of any direction by a court or judge. Under this procedure, the clerk functions as the magistrate. He issues the warrant of arrest. He is the only public official to whom the matter is presented by the prosecuting attorney in order to initiate the prosecution. It is obviously appropriate that the affidavits of the witnesses should be taken before the clerk and such affida vits are, in my opinion, affidavits ‘made before a magistrate’ within the meaning of the Federal Statute.”

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