Kassama v. Magat’s Empirical Analysis
2002
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 4 district · 30 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Roe v. Wade · Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. P Casey P Casey · Becker v. Schwartz · 31 Cal. 3d 220 - Turpin v. Sortini · Faya v. Almaraz
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.
“the crucial question, a value judgment about life itself, is too deeply immersed in each person's own individual philosophy or theology to be subject to a reasoned and consistent community response, in the form of a jury verdict”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“whether Maryland law is prepared to recognize that kind of injury-the injury of life itself.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“This judicial reticence [to recognize a wrongful life action] stems partially from the fact that the theory amounts to a repudiation of the value of human life. The contention of wrongful life plaintiffs is not that they should not have been born without defects, but rather, that they should not have been born at all. The essence of such claims is that the childs very life is “wrongful.” We ... decline to adopt the doctrine which would recognize such a cause of action. Basic to our culture is the precept that life is precious. As a society therefore, our laws have as their driving force the purpose of protecting, preserving and improving the quality of human existence. To recognize wrongful life as a tort would do violence to that purpose and is completely contradictory to the belief that life is precious. The fact that Dessie Blake will live in a severely disabled condition is unquestionably a tragedy; nevertheless, we agree with the New Jersey Supreme Court in that life — whether experienced with or without a major physical handicap — is more precious than non-life. Thus, because Dessie Blake has suffered no legally cognizable wrong by being born, she has no cause of action. Even if we were to hold that wrongful life were a legally cognizable injury in Idaho, the impossibility of measuring damages would in any event preclude recognition of the cause of action.... The primary purpose of tort law is that of compensating plaintiffs for the injuries they have suffered wrongfull”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.