Wiggins v. Wiggins’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “‘ ‘It has been repeatedly held by us that the husband’s making of an unfounded charge of lascivious conduct against an innocent wife is in itself evidence of and constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment within the meaning of the statute, entitling the wife to divorce, except where the charge is made, not maliciously but in good faith, upon reasonable grounds for believing it, even though held untrue, (citing cases) Also, we have held that accusations in pleading of spouse as to improper conduct of the other spouse, where not supported by such evidence as to imply good faith, constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment where false and malicious. * * * * ‘ Clearly, the testimony of the husband and his witnesses as to instances of alleged misconduct on the part of his wife, upon which he here based his charge that she was loose and lascivious in her behavior, was found to be altogether without substance or of the quality to induce conviction, and therefore, his baseless charge having only such support (which amounted to no support), it must needs have been made by him not in good faith but maliciously, and as such constituted, as set out supra, cruel and inhuman treatment within the meaning of the statute and entitled her, we conclude, to an absolute divorce and reversal of the judgment as erroneous, in so far as it failed to grant her such. ’ ’”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Relaford v. Relaford