State v. Ford’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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. “[T]hat language establishes which event in the series of events from perpetration through prosecution of a crime determines whether a defendant will be sentenced under the sentencing guidelines or pursuant to previous law. It establishes commission of the crime as the controlling event, and it establishes that crimes committed on or after July 1, 1993, will be punished according to the sentencing guidelines. Hence, if the legislature had changed the date in the language prefacing the drug grid to coincide with the effective date of the 1996 amendment, the resulting provision might have been construed to restrict application of the sentencing guidelines to crimes committed on or after July 1, 1996. By not changing the date in K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 21-4705(a), the legislature maintained July 1, 1993, as the date on or after which a crime had to be committed in order for the sentencing guidelines to govern punishment.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In Re Tax Appeal of Alsop Sand Co., Inc. · State v. Overton

2. ““It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that a statute operates prospectively unless its language clearly indicates that the legislature intended it to operate retroactively. State v. Sutherland, 248 Kan. 96 , Syl. ¶ 4, 804 P.2d 970 (1991). An exception to the rule has been recognized for statutory change that is merely procedural or remedial in nature, but that exception has no application in the present case because a statute that defines the length or type of criminal punishment is substantive. 248 Kan. at 106 . “In Sutherland, the court stated: ‘The legislature is aware of this court’s established rules of statutory construction. The legislature is aware, and has, on many occasions, used specific language to clearly set forth whether a statute is to be applied prospectively or retrospectively.’ 248 Kan. at 106 . One of the occasions on which the legislature expressly provided for retroactive application was in enacting the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (Act) in 1993. K.S.A. 21-4701 etseq. At that time, the legislature prefaced the grids for nondrug and drug crimes with the directive that they ‘shall be applied in felony cases for crimes committed on or after July 1,1993.’ K.S.A. 21-4704(a); see K.S.A. 21-4705(a). In another section of the Act, K.S.A. 21-4724, the legislature prescribed when and how the guidelines were to be applied to persons who committed crimes prior to July 1,1993.” 262 Kan. at 208 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Roseborough