Dawson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 federal appellate · 26 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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(i)t is the further intention of the General Assembly that persons sentenced to death for crimes committed prior to the effective date of this Act be executed by lethal injection if the Supreme Court of the United States declares that electrocution violates the Constitution of the United States or if the Supreme Court of Georgia declares that electrocution violates the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of Georgia.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Humphrey v. Wilson

2. “[t]he mere fact that the Legislature has spoken on the issue of the [sentence to be imposed for a particular crime] does not preclude or in any manner limit this Court's evaluation of the [sentence] to determine whether it comports with the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bradshaw v. State

3. “`the clearest and most objective evidence of how contemporary society views a particular punishment' inasmuch as that significant change in the law `amount(s) to evidence of the shifting or evolution of the societal consensus.' [Cit.]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bradshaw v. State