Sutton v. Anderson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The argument of respondent’s counsel that appellant could have surrendered the land in March, 1920, and avoided all liability for future rents and profits was obviously correct. Counsel qualified that remark by saying that appellant would not lose his improvements, for which he had already brought suit. Of course, appellant could have yielded possession of the land in response to respondent’s suit for possession, to which he was admittedly entitled at that time, and would have incurred no liability for rents and profits accruing after such surrender. Such surrender could not affect his pending suit to recover the reasonable value of improvements, for which he would have been entitled to recover, if he had not made such surrender.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State ex rel. Shaul v. Jones

2. ““Even if the above language (in the Anderson case) were given the meaning now ascribed to it by Anderson’s counsel, it would not be controlling in this case (the Sutton case), because the reasoning of that opinion was never endorsed by a majority of the court.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hartman v. McFadden