Windham v. Griffin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

32 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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We continue to adhere to the view that the parental preference doctrine, by definition, is a preference, and it will be applied to a child custody determination unless it is shown that the lawful parent is unfit or has forfeited his or her superior right or the preference is negated by a demonstration that the best interests of the child lie elsewhere.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Heather R. v. Mark R. (In Re K.R.) · 26 Neb. Ct. App. 713 - Heather R. v. Mark R. (In re K.R.)

2. “[w]hile preference must be given to a biological or adoptive parent's superior right to custody where the parent is not unfit and has not forfeited his or her parental rights, a court also considers the child's best interests in making its custody determination.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 26 Neb. Ct. App. 713 - Heather R. v. Mark R. (In re K.R.)

3. “examine the merits as though [the parent and nonparent] were standing on equal footing and the outcome would be determined only by reference to best interests.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Heather R. v. Mark R. (In Re K.R.)