Johnson v. Colglazier’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 federal appellate · 1 district · 4 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It would seem that under the test of Byrd v. Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Inc., 356 U.S. 525 , 78 S.Ct. 893, 2 L.Ed.2d 953 (1958), as applied by this court in Monarch Ins. Co. of Ohio v. Spach, 281 F.2d 401 (5th Cir. 1960) and also under Maryland Cas. Co. v. Reid, 5 Cir., 76 F.2d 30, the question of the propriety of counsel's argument and the judge's action and non-action with respect thereto is a matter of trial procedure controlled by federal law. This is so because there must be weighed, against possible differences in outcome because of choice of forum, the needs of the federal courts, as an independent system of courts, to follow such procedures as will best enable them to carry out their constitutional duty to fairly and justly hear and adjudicate. Spach recognized as `[a]n important countervailing policy consideration in the Blue Ridge sense' the purposes of the Federal Rules and the Enabling Act to provide, on matters of practice `an approach to uniformity within the whole federal judicial system'.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Har-Pen Truck Lines, Inc. v. Mills

2. “[A]n argument designed, calculated, and effective to mislead the jury into believing that the determination of a proper award for legal damages for pain and suffering is a matter of precise and accurate determination and not, as it really is, a matter to be left to the jury’s determination, uninfluenced by arguments and charts of the kind involved herd, which could only be regarded as tending to mislead the jury into believing that there was an accurate “legal” guide or chart to assist and direct them in reaching a large verdict for pain and suffering on considerations which have no proper legal place in the determination.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Foradori v. Harris

3. “* * to assure effective complete policing, the Court can construct the charge, either general or on special interrogatories, so that each element is separately fixed. [Rule 49, F.R.Civ.P.] The Judge can readily tell whether the verdict is measurably infected on this element by an extravagant runaway jury.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Sandra Waldron v. Selma C. Hardwick