Blumenthal v. Morton’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““A ‘best’ answer is something different from an acceptable answer. It is a relative matter and assumes, by the very employment of the word ‘best,’ that there are alternatives of relative merit of which one is the best. As a civil service examination is intended to test relative merit, the kind of examination employed here, calculated to determine and test the discernment and judgment of the candidates in making a selection of the best of several alternatives, is peculiarly appropriate. The entire virtue of such an examination, however, lies in the existence of an objectively best answer. It is obvious that if more than one answer to a question is accepted as best, an action which is antithetical, there is a denial of a rating based on relative merit. “It can hardly be argued, therefore, that if a question is susceptible of a single best answer it is permissible to accept as best other answers which are not relatively as good. To give the Commission discretion to do so would be to tolerate a subjective standard or measure which is not permitted. The Commission should certainly be expected and required, therefore, to select the single best answer whenever it is objectively possible to do so. * * * ””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State ex rel. Brenders v. Hall · State ex rel. Brenders v. Hall