Burns v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 52 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 59 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In other words, a determination of future dangerousness revolves around an individual defendant and a specific crime. Evidence regarding die general nature of prison life in a maximum security facility is not relevant to that inquiry, even when offered in rebuttal to evidence of future dangerousness such as that presented in this case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Jackson

2. “there is a probability based upon evidence of the prior history of the defendant ... that he would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing serious threat to society .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lawlor v. Zook

3. “rejected the argument that a jury's determination [on this factor] is restricted to a consideration of only the prison society.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lawlor v. Zook