McLaughlin v. McLaughlin’s Empirical Analysis
1922
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 41 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 43 later decisions — most recently February 1979 · most notably Hartt v. Hartt (1979), In Re Little (1968)
2 federal appellate · 41 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Hyde v. . the Superior Court · Thrift v. Thrift · Berger v. Berger · Fidler v. Fidler
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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Marriage and the family relation is regarded as one of the foundations of our social order. To many in our community the contract of marriage is a solemn obligation, requiring the sanction of religion, and one which should not be dissolved, save for the gravest reasons.. * ' * * When the marriage relation is established, the state is deeply interested in its continuance. In his supplementary brief the respondent takes exception to the statement, made at the hearing, that divorces are not favored in the law, and calls our attention to the fact that they are expressly permitted under our statute. The two statements exactly declare our law and public policy. The state strongly desires a continuation of the marriage relation, and hence is unfavorable to divorce. When, however, one of the parties has been guilty of serious fault, subversive of the marriage, and the other is entirely blameless, then the law will permit a divorce, but upon the prayer of the innocent spouse only. * *' * A petition for divorce, however, seeks to set aside a relation which the state desires shall continue for the good of society. In every proceeding for divorce the state is a party, and the action has been called ‘a triangular suit,’ with the interests of tho state under the protection of the court. Berger v. Berger, 44 R. I. 296 , 317 A. 361 . The state will not permit a divorce to be granted by default, nor upon admissions of the respondent made in the pleadings, but only upon affirmative convincing”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.