United States v. Edwards’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 district · 6 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. “An exemption from compulsory testimony is recognized in certain situations to protect the integrity and individual responsibility of governmental officials whose duties involve the exercise of judicial and quasi-judicial authority. * * * To allow certain exemptions to these officers is not to provide them with a blanket immunity from testimony. Like any testimonial "privilege," this one must be construed and applied with the greatest care for fear that it be misused or abused. And, indeed, the courts have been most scrupulous in delineating between protected and unprotected testimony on a case-by-case basis. In various instances and circumstances, judges, jurors, justices of the peace, and referees have been compelled to testify. * * * The essential line of demarcation appearing from the cases is that judicial and quasi-judicial officers may be compelled to testify only as to relevant matters of fact that do not probe into or compromise the mental processes employed in formulating the judgment in question.... Thus, even though a particular inquiry may be factually directed, it may still be objectionable if it invades upon an official's good-faith decision-making prerogatives. It is apparent, however, that this doctrine does not exempt compulsory testimony as to all factual matters related to those prerogatives.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 887 So. 2d 1 - Lee v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd.

2. “Neither counsel nor a party may seek recusal of a judge by announcing that [he] intend[s] to call the judge as a witness.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. People v. Schupper