Scott v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

30 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 31 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The statutory subsection, by its plain text, is directed only at persons who, with the specific intent to inflict emo-, tional distress, repeatedly use the telephone to invade another person’s personal privacy and do so in a manner reasonably likely to inflict emotional distress. Given that plain text, we believe that the conduct to which the statutory subsection is susceptible of application will be, in the usual case, essentially noncommunicative, even if the conduct includes spoken words. That is to say, in the usual case, persons whose conduct violates § 42.07(a)(4) will not have an intent to engage in the legitimate communication of ideas, opinions, or information; they will have only the intent to inflict emotional distress for its own sake. To the extent that the statutory. subsection is susceptible of application to communicative conduct, it is susceptible of such application only when that communicative conduct is not protected by the First Amendment because, under the circumstances presented, that communicative conduct invades the substantial privacy interests of another (the victim) in an essentially intolerable manner.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Sean Lebo v. State

2. “A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, the person: (1) initiates communication and in the course of the communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscenef.]”). . Tex. Penal Code § 42.07(a)(7) (”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Lo, Ex Parte John Christopher

3. “At the time Scott was decided, I said that 'the mischief this statute can create is enormous,’ and the present case has only reinforced that conclusion.”) (brackets omitted); Id. at 427 (Cochran, J., concurring, joined by Johnson and Alcala, JJ.) (”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Reece, Ex Parte Kelcey Kent