Commonwealth v. Chapman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Whoever, having care and custody of a child, wantonly or recklessly permits substantial bodily injury to such child or wantonly or recklessly permits another to commit an assault and battery upon such child, which assault and battery causes substantial bodily injury, shall be punished ....””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. LaBrie · Commonwealth v. Panagopoulos

2. ““[the term ‘bodily injury’] defines the bodily injuries the Legislature intended to be punishable under the statute, i.e., bums, fractures, injuries to internal organs, and perilous physical conditions, while [‘substantial bodily injury’] lays the foundation for greater sanctions based on the gravity and consequences of the bodily injury sustained. Read together, ... a substantial bodily injury includes any substantial impairment of the physical condition that causes a protracted impairment of the function of an internal organ or a substantial risk of death. As it appears in the context of the statute, death is not an injury, but one risk of injury.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. LaBrie

3. “defines the bodily injuries the Legislature intended to be punishable under the statute, i.e., burns, fractures, injuries to internal organs, [and] perilous physical conditions.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 93 Mass. App. Ct. 486 - Commonwealth v. Ryan