McClanahan v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[i]t is the faithful adherence to the policies of justice embodied in our sentencing statutes and rules that preserves the great respect and high regard most citizens of this Commonwealth have for our trial court judges.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Grady v. Commonwealth · Phon v. Com. of Ky.

2. “Our courts must not be complicit in the violation of the public policy embedded in our sentencing statutes by turning a blind eye to an unlawful sentence, regardless of a defendant's consent.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Walker v. Commonwealth · Phon v. Com. of Ky.

3. “Whether recommended by an errant jury or by the parties through a plea agreement, a sentence that is outside the limits established by the statutes is still an illegal sentence.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Walker v. Commonwealth · Phon v. Com. of Ky.