Commonwealth v. O'HARRAH’s Empirical Analysis
1953
Citation profile
24 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 25 later decisions — most recently March 2019 · most notably Tabler v. Wallace (1985), State v. Siirila (1971)
24 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Boyd v. United States · Brown v. Maryland · Fairbank v. United States · Commonwealth v. Barney · Roper v. Roper
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 25 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[c]onstitutional provisions . . . are to be enforced according to their letter and spirit, and cannot be evaded by any legislation [or regulations] which, though not in terms trespassing on the letter, yet in substance and effect destroy the [constitutional] grant or limitation.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage““We-recognize the legislative power to define what acts or omissions shall constitute criminal offenses so long as the exercise of the power does not infringe constitutional rights and privileges, express or necessarily implied. Taylor v. Commonwealth ex rel. Dummit, 305 Ky. 75 , 202 S.W.2d 992 . But there is no power to declare to be a crime an act which has no relation to the comfort, welfare and safety of society or an act which could not be avoided by the utmost care and circumspection, or which, in its nature, is and must be under all circumstances innocent, or the nonperformance of which is ■ impossible. . . .” Commonwealth v. O’Harrah (Ky.), 262 S.W.2d 385, 388 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Esco v. State“A [parent] who can but will not take care of his [or her] child ought not be coddled by the law. But oppression ought not be practiced in the name of law and justice. Some observations may be made as to the severity of this statute.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. People v. Adams
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.