Johnson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““As shown by the language of Art. 27 § 412(b), the basic sentence for first degree murder ‘shall be imprisonment for life.... ’ The greater sentences of death or imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole cannot be imposed unless certain special conditions are met. In addition to the notice requirements set forth in § 412(b), there are special conditions for the imposition of death or life without the possibility of parole contained in other statutory provisions.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Borchardt v. State

2. “It seems obvious to us [that] the intention of the [General Assembly] was simply to avoid the effects of Scarlett [, 201 Md. at 320 -21 , 93 A.2d at 757 -58 ,] which held that a [defendant] could, in some cases, receive a much longer term for a conspiracy than for the completed crime [that] was the object of the conspiracy.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nichols v. State

3. “contemplate[d] the ordinary maximum available for all who perpetrate the target crime[,] and [did] not incorporate the enhanced penalty provisions [that were] available only for certain of those perpetrators.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nichols v. State