Valerie Schramm Stephenson v. Grant T. Stephenson, Jr., and Howard E. Stephenson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate ·

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

1. ““A controversy, in the constitutional sense and in the sense of the Declaratory Judgment Act, must be justiciable —it must be definite and concrete, touching the legal relation of parties having adverse legal interests — it must be a real and substantial controversy admitting of specific relief through a conclusive decree, as distinguished from an opinion advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical statement of facts.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Watkins v. Chicago Housing Authority

2. ““ * * * there is an actual controversy, justifying a resort to that [Declaratory Judgment] act, where one side makes a claim of a present, specific right and the other side makes an equally definite claim to the contrary.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Watkins v. Chicago Housing Authority

3. ““* * * a total absence of proof of a claim on one side makes impossible the existence of a controversy. For that reason, in the latter situation a declaratory judgment proceeding is not maintainable.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Watkins v. Chicago Housing Authority