United States v. Katz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

286 federal appellate · 40 district · 56 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 573 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[a]ll laws are to be given a sensible construction; and a literal application of a statute, which would lead to absurd consequences, should be avoided whenever a reasonable application can be given to it, consistent with the legislative purpose,”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Beach v. United States · Alexander v. State Personnel Bd. of Cal.

2. ““Of the 39 sections in title 2 of the act which deals with National Prohibition, more than half, including the 7 sections which precede section 10 [Comp. St. § 10138%e] contain provisions authorizing or regulating the manufacture, sale, transportation, or use of intoxicating liquor for nonbeverage purposes. These provisions, read together, clearly indicate a statutory plan or scheme to regulate the disposition of alcoholic liquor not prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment, in such manner as to minimize the danger of its diversion from authorized or permitted uses to beverage purposes.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Farrar · Cywan v. Blair

3. ““General terms descriptive of a class of persons made subject to a criminal statute may and should be limited, where the literal application of the statute would lead to extreme or absurd results, and where the legislative purpose gathered from the whole act would be satisfied by a more limited interpretation.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Sorrells v. United States · 78 F. Supp. 9 - United States v. Zisblatt Furniture Co.