State v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A statute offends the Due Process Clause if it does not give a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited so that he may act accordingly. It meets the constitutional test if the meaning of the words used can be fairly ascertained by reference to similar statutes, other judicial determinations, reference to the common law, to the dictionary, or if the words themselves have a common and generally-accepted meaning.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Miller v. Iowa Real Estate Commission · Sloman v. Board of Pharmacy Examiners

2. ““729.1 Criminal trespass. Definitions: 1. The term ‘property’ shall include any land, dwelling, building, conveyance, vehicle, or other temporary or permanent structure whether publicly or privately owned. 2. The term ‘trespass’ shall mean one or more of the following acts. a. Entering upon or in property without legal justification or without the implied or actual permission of the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession with the intent to commit a public offense or to use, remove therefrom, alter, damage, harass, or place thereon or therein anything animate or inanimate, without the implied or actual permission of the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession. b. Entering or remaining upon or in property without legal justification after being notified or requested to abstain from entering or to remove or vacate therefrom by the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession, or the agent or employee of the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession, or by any peace officer, magistrate, or public employee whose duty it is to supervise the use or maintenance of the property. c. Entering upon or in property for the purpose or with the effect of unduly interfering with the lawful use of the property by others. d. Being upon or in property and using, removing therefrom, altering, damaging, harassing, or placing thereon or therein anything animate or inanimate, without the implied or actual permission of the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession. “ 729.2 Pena”

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

3. “[I]f a statute “can be made constitutionally definite by a reasonable construction, * * * this Court is under a duty to give the statute that construction.” . . . We do not search for intolerable lengths to which the unconstrued statute might be extended; rather we confine the language and thereby give effect to its provisions. . . . This principle is followed even where the statute, if literally applied, would succumb to constitutional attack on grounds of vagueness and over-breadth. (Citations omitted.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Williams v. Osmundson