Stanfield v. Peregoy’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

35 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 39 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he conduct of driving and spreading salt combined as an integral part of the governmental function of rendering the city streets safe for public travel.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Friday-Spivey v. Collier · Smith v. Daniel

2. “There, a school bus driver had taken a county bus to be serviced. As he drove the empty bus from the service station toward a county school, children began crowding around and running after the moving bus as it neared the entrance to the school building. Before the bus stopped and before any children had boarded the bus, a child was injured when he fell or was pushed to the ground beneath a wheel of the bus.... [T]he Court considered defendant’s contention that he was immune from suit because he was operating a county vehicle “which was used for the transportation of children.” The Court decided that the driver was not immune and, without elaborating, merely set forth the general rule that public officers are liable for injury resulting from their negligence in the performance of duties that do not involve judgment or discretion but are purely ministerial. In Wynn ... the defendant was engaged in “the simple operation” of the bus, approaching the place where he would embark on his governmental duty of transporting children.... [N] ote worthy is the fact that the defendant claimed immunity merely because he was operating a government vehicle “used” or utilized for the transportation of children, not because he was actually engaged in their transportation at the time.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Turner v. City of Norfolk

3. “The operation of the track in snow and ice to effectuate a governmental purpose clearly involved, at least in part, the exercise of judgment and discretion by the driver. For example, he had to decide whether the conditions of a particular street or intersection required plowing or salting, or both. When spreading the salt, the defendant’s activity at the time of the accident, he was required to determine the amount of salt to be applied and the area over which it should be spread. Indeed, the exercise of discretion was involved even in the initial decision to undertake the plowing and salting at all.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Turner v. City of Norfolk