Shanks v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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. ““We are of the opinion that under the act if one offers for sale what he reasonably believes to be a narcotic drug and it later turns out in fact not to be a narcotic, this is sufficient to support a conviction. For here we have present the union of an act and a criminal intent, both of which are normally required to constitute a crime. This is not true of the case before us, for the reason that Shanks knew the material sold was sugar and not a narcotic. We do not believe this will support a conviction under the statute. Had he thought the material to be a narcotic the case would be different. * * * ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Patterson

2. ““It has long been the rule that the fact that a police officer hides his identity and solicits the purchase of illegal goods does not constitute illegal entrapment.””

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