Dalton v. Johnson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

39 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 40 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““An easement may be established by use which is shown to have been continuous, uninterrupted, visible and adverse for a period of 10 years. Smith v. Santarelli, Mo.App., 207 S.W.2d 543 . The evidence in the record before us is overwhelmingly to the effect that the passageway in question had been established and had been in continuous, open and uninterrupted use by plaintiffs’ predecessors in title for at least 30 years before plaintiffs purchased the property in 1946. It is true that there was no specific testimony as to the adverse character of the use. However, ‘a use of land is adverse to the owner * * * when it is not made in subordination to him, and * * * [is] open and notorious.’ 5 Restatement, Property, Section 458, p. 2924. Moreover, we have stated that ‘in the absence of some showing that the use was permissive in its origin it is well settled that when one claims an easement by prescription and shows an open, continuous, visible, and uninterrupted use for the period of the 10-year statute of limitation, the burden is cast upon the landowner to show that the use was permissive, rather than adverse, if he claims it to have been so.’ Fassold v. Schamburg, 350 Mo. 464 , 166 S.W.2d 571, 572 .””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Huter v. Birk