Miller v. Mitchell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “1. ' Any offender committed to the department of corrections '... may receive additional credit in terms of days spent in confinement upon recommendation for such credit by the offender’s institutional superintendent when the offender meets the requirements for such credit as provided in subsections 3 and 4 of this section.... [[Image here]] 3. The director of the department of corrections shall issue a policy for awarding credit. The policy may reward an inmate who has served his sentence in an orderly and peaceable manner and has taken advantage of the rehabilitation programs available to him. Any violation of institutional rules or the laws of this state may result in the loss of all or a portion of any credit earned by the inmate pursuant to this section.”

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

2. “Unlike an agency’s rules and regulations, however, an agency’s policies or procedures do not constitute enacted laws. Rather, an agency’s policies and procedures are “statements of enforcement policy.” Thus, “[i]f the law is unchanged and no legislative regulations are promulgated, a mere change in enforcement methods, priorities, or policies, written or unwritten — a change within the scope of the executive branch’s discretion in enforcing the laws passed by [the legislature] — does not activate the prohibition against ex post facto laws.” When “all that has changed is the vigor with which criminal laws are being enforced,” as opposed to the criminal laws themselves, the notice protection afforded by the ex post facto clauses is not impinged.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Davis v. Kempker

3. “By changing its policy, the Department was not enacting a new law. Rather, it was changing its enforcement of an existing law, § 589.040, to conform with that law’s requirement that all sexual offenders successfully complete MO-SOP. The potential extension of an inmate’s conditional release date upon the failure to complete MOSOP is merely an enforcement mechanism for ensuring compliance with the statute. Therefore, the Department of Corrections’ revised policy does not implicate the ex post facto clauses of the Missouri and United States Constitutions.”

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