Commonwealth v. Ruiz’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 notice requirement [of a probation condition] can be satisfied by 'an imprecise but comprehensible normative standard so that [people] of common intelligence will know its meaning.' " Commonwealth v. Kendrick , 446 Mass. 72 , 75 (2006) (quotation omitted). See Commonwealth v. Ruiz , 453 Mass. 474 , 479 (2009) (quotation omitted) ("[A] condition of probation must provide 'reasonable guidance' as to the conduct prohibited so that people of 'common intelligence' will understand its meaning”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1108 - Commonwealth v. Martins

2. “A judge's inquiry whether a defendant has received the required 'fair notice' is not 'confined to the four corners of the probation order'; rather, the order's meaning may be illuminated by the judge's statements and other events that are part of the notification process.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 92 Mass. App. Ct. 1108 - Commonwealth v. Martins

3. “defendant, like all members of society, is on notice that he may not violate the criminal law at any time. Thus, no additional or special notice is required.”

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