311 F. Supp. 898 - Smith v. Logan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 2 district ·

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

1. ““ - * * (I)t would be improvident for a federal court to entertain a suit for damages inquiring into possible constitutional violations committed during the trial, while the petitioner is imprisoned on that conviction. See Still v. Nichols, supra [1 Cir., 412 F.2d 778 ]; Greene v. State of New York, supra [D.C., 281 F.Supp. 579 ] ; Martin v. Roach, 280 F.Supp. 480 (S.D. N.Y.1968). State prisoners may have the constitutional violations of their trial remedied by habeas corpus proceedings. In those proceedings the court can afford the best relief— namely release from custody. In order to adjudicate petitioner’s claim for damages this court would be required to hold the same hearings and make the same determinations- as necessary on habeas corpus. To allow this suit is to say that every state prisoner may attack the alleged constitutional violations of his trial by two different methods — first, by habeas corpus for release from custody and secondly, by § 1983 for damages. I can find no justification for vastly expanding the burdens on the federal courts by permitting this duplicity of actions. The method for adjudicating these claims is habeas corpus and it is in those proceedings that prisoners may obtain the most adequate remedy.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 316 F. Supp. 318 - Moore v. Frazier