Schurman v. United States’s Empirical Analysis

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

1. “* * * The words “greeting, title or other wording” seem beyond peradventure of doubt to refer to any printed expression, of any nature whatsoever, appearing anywhere upon the card, in its condition as imported. We fail to see how Congress could have intended otherwise and yet have employed language so comprehensive and all inclusive in scope. That congressional emphasis was not placed upon the greeting portion per se of the cards covered by the provision in question is patently manifest by the use of the additional language, of equal force, “title or other wording.” To what does this additional language refer ? The word “title” is defined in part in Webster’s New International Dictionary, second edition, as “A descriptive name; an appellation or designation.” When used, without words of modification, the term “title” has as sensible a meaning as a “name; an appellation or designation” when applied to a picture reproduced upon a greeting card, as when applied to indicate the occasion to which the card relates, or the category into which it falls. Perhaps even more so, for it may be observed that so-called social cards do not ordinarily carry titles to signify their purposes or intended uses. In any event, the language “other wording” seems clearly to be a phrase of extension added to cover any other printed matter such a card happens to contain, and we so construe it.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. H. George Caspari, Inc. v. United States