Ex parte Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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. ““That sentence may be suspended on conviction of an offender, because of mitigating circumstances, or the pendency of another indictment, or other sufficient cause, is not denied, and in practice is frequently done in this State, and in other States is held to be permissible. Commonwealth vs. Dowdican’s Bail, 115 Mass. 133 ; State vs. Addy, 43 N. J. L. 113. And it does.not follow necessarily from suspension that a sentence may not be pronounced afterwards. But in this case it is argued that the Order or sentence, of Judge McClellan at the Fall Term, 1889, was not a simple suspension of sentence, but was itself a sentence, and that the Court had no power to adjudge a further penalty. If this view can be sustained it is on the ground that the law does not allow two sentences for the same offense. This is undoubtedly the law and the only question here is, whether the sentence referred to is one Which comes within its reason -and meaning. It is an older merely for the payment of costs, the fee of the State’s Attorney being a part thereof, and then a postponement of further sentence. The purpose of the law is to prevent punishment, of a person twice for the same offense. All persons are as ¡much entitled to this protection as they are to protection against being twice put in jeopardy for the same offense, and the right to- both is in this Country a sacred and fundamental one. Is the sentence a violation of this right? It will be found upon examination of the authorities cited to s”

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