Merrick v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 36 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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Mr. Chief Justice Burger in an opinion announcing the judgment of the Court upholding the validity of a search and seizure warrant, declared, after observing that statements in the application for the warrant were against an unnamed informant’s penal interest: ‘Admissions of crime, like admissions against proprietary interest, carry their own indicia of credibility — sufficient at least to support a finding of probable cause____’ Id. at 583 . “This conclusion, contained in Part III of the opinion, was not shared by a majority of the Court. The Chief Justice was joined only by Mr. Justice Black, Mr. Justice White and Mr. Justice Blackmun on the point. Mr. Justice Harlan, with whom Mr. Justice Douglas, Mr. Justice Brennan and Mr. Justice Marshall joined, expressly disagreed in a dissenting opinion. Thus, although there was a majority of five joining in the judgment, there was only a plurality of four in agreement with the opinion delivering the judgment. The lack of an agreement by a majority of the Court on the principles of law involved prevents the opinion from being an authoritative determination for other cases. United States v. Pink, 315 U.S. 203, 216 , 62 S.Ct. 552 (1942). See Annot., 65 A.L.R. 3d 504 (1975). Its findings, conclusions and views are not constitutionally the ‘Supreme Law’ of Maryland, nor are the ‘Judges of this State, and all the People of this State ... bound thereby.’ In other words, the conclusion regarding statements against penal interest expressed ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 43 Md. App. 613 - Barber v. State

2. “The Constitution of the United States, and the Laws made, or which shall be made, in pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, are, and shall be the Supreme Law of the State; and the Judges of this State, and all the People of this State, are, and shall be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or Law of this State to the contrary notwithstanding.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Stevenson v. State

3. “That all warrants, without oath or affirmation, to search suspected places, or to seize any person or property, are grievous and oppressive; and all general warrants to search suspected places, or to apprehend suspected persons, without naming or describing the place, or the person in special, are illegal, and ought not to be granted.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Benbow v. State