Robinson v. Solem’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 8 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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “a substantial psychiatric disorder of thought, mood or behavior which affects a person at the time of the commission of the offense and which impairs a person's judgment, but not to the extent that he is incapable of knowing the wrongfulness of his act. Mental illness does not include abnormalities manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct; (emphasis added)”

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

2. “Although I maintain my belief that SDCL 23A-27-38 is unconstitutional for reasons expressed in Justice Henderson's dissent in Robinson I, I concur in the result of this part of the case on the basis that Robinson's challenge to the constitutionality 23A-27-38 is premature.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. State v. Bailey

3. “By enacting South Dakota's [guilty but mentally ill] statutes, our legislature intended to provide an alternative verdict available to a jury to reduce the number of offenders who were erroneously found not guilty by reason of insanity.”

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