Harrison v. Harker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The decisions rendered in this class of cases almost universally hold that where, as here, a parent has surrendered the control of his child when it was a toddling- infant to other parties, and permitted them to maintain, clothe, feed, and care for it until it is eight or nine years of age, and a strong reciprocal mutual affection has grown up between the child and its foster parents, as in the case at bar, and the parent seeks to recover possession of the child, the natural or presumptive right of the parent cannot prevail, if the interests and welfare of the child forbid it. The law in such eases regards the welfare and permanent interests of the child much more important than the natural or presumptive right of the parent. In other words, the paramount consideration in such cases is the well-being of the child.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wallick v. Vance

2. “the physical, intellectual, social, moral, and educational training and general welfare and happiness of the child,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. In Interest Of B.T.B.