Hamilton v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ ‘A pardon in our days is not a private act of grace from an individual happening to possess power. It is part of the Constitutional scheme. When granted it is the determination of the ultimate authority that the public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than what the judgment fixed. * * * Just as the original punishment would be imposed without regard to the prisoner’s consent and in the teeth of his will, whether he liked it or not, the public welfare, not his consent, determines what shall be done. -X- * * * -X- -X- By common understanding imprisonment for life is a less penalty than death’.” Id. 458 S.W.2d at 167 , citing Biddle v. Perovich, 274 U.S. 480, 486-487 , 47 S.Ct. 664 , 71 L.Ed. 1161 (1927).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 362 F. Supp. 739 - Hamilton v. Ford