State v. Thorpe’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]he Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people against unreasonable searches and seizures. It is applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 242 N.C. App. 253 - State v. Sorrell · 263 N.C. App. 595 - State v. Terrell

2. “Our Supreme Court has stated that the police can stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the officer has reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that criminal activity may be afoot, even if the officer lacks probable cause.... Reasonable suspicion requires that the stop be based on specific and articulable facts, as well as the rational inferences from those facts, as viewed through the eyes of a reasonable, cautious officer, guided by his experience and training. All the State is required to show is a minimal level of objective justification, something more than an unparticularized suspicion or hunch.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 242 N.C. App. 253 - State v. Sorrell

3. “Although length in and of itself will not normally convert an otherwise valid seizure into a de facto arrest, where the detention is more than momentary, as here, there must be some strong justification for the delay to avoid rendering the seizure unreasonable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 263 N.C. App. 595 - State v. Terrell