In Re NBC Universal, Inc.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Open courts are critical to a democratic society. Access to judicial proceedings and documents is necessary for federal courts to have a measure of accountability and for the public to have confidence in the administration of justice. The rule of law and public acquiescence in judicial decisions demand that courts reveal the bases for their rulings. Without monitoring, the public could have no confidence in the conscientiousness, reasonableness, or honesty of judicial proceedings. Such monitoring is not possible without access to testimony and documents that are used in the performance of Article III functions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 474 F. Supp. 2d 385 - In Re Zyprexa Injunction

2. “Documents that play no role in the performance of Article III functions, such as those passed between the parties in discovery, lie entirely beyond the presumption’s reach, and stand on a different footing than a motion filed by a party seeking action by the court or, indeed, than any other document which is presented to the court to invoke its powers or affect its decisions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 474 F. Supp. 2d 385 - In Re Zyprexa Injunction