State v. Meyer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Both the trial courts and the district attorneys, who represent the State as the civil, plaintiff, must treat traffic infraction cases as the civil matters that the legislature has designated them to be. See 17-A M.R.S.A. § 4 (Supp.1980); 29 M.R.S.A. § 1(17-C). Traffic infractions should be handled by the court separately from criminal traffic cases and in a manner consistent with their handling of other civil matters. In traffic infraction cases, both the plaintiff and the defendant are relieved from the cumbersome process required for criminal proceedings. D.C. Civ.R. 80F represents an attempt to make traffic infraction proceedings simple (e.g., only limited joinder or discovery, and no counterclaims, are allowed) and expeditious (e.g., oral answers are received at the day of hearing). Anything that causes the alleged traffic infractor to be treated in court with all the procedural “safeguards” accorded a criminal defendant imposes upon the civil defendant in practical effect the same de facto punishment that accompanies a minor criminal charge. See M. Feeley, The Process Is the Punishment: Handling Cases in a Lower Criminal Court (Russell Sage Foundation 1979).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Chubbuck