Baldwin v. Alabama’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

57 federal appellate · 261 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 353 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"It does not follow, however, that the judge will be swayed to impose a sentence of death merely because the jury returned a mandatory death `sentence,' when it had no opportunity to consider mitigating circumstances. The judge knows that determination of the appropriate sentence is not within the jury's province, and that the jury does not consider evidence in mitigation in arriving at its `sentence.' The jury's `sentence' means only that the jury found the defendant guilty of a capital crime — that is, that it found the fact of intentional killing in the course of a robbery — and that if the judge finds that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances, the judge is authorized to impose a sentence of death. The `sentence' thus conveys nothing more than the verdict of guilty, when it is read in conjunction with the provisions of the 1975 Act making the offense a capital crime, would convey. It defies logic to assume that a judge will be swayed to impose the death penalty by a `sentence' that has so little meaning. Despite its misdescribed label, it is not a sentence of death."”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Gall v. Parker · 534 So. 2d 628 - Daniels v. State

2. “conceivably might have merit if the judge actually were required to consider the jury's 'sentence' as a recommendation as to the sentence the jury believed would be appropriate, cf. Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 , 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913 (1976), and if the judge were obligated to accord some deference to it.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Lambrix v. Singletary · Songer v. Wainwright

3. “The judge’s discretion is guided by the requirement that the death penalty be imposed only if the judge finds the aggravating circumstance that serves to define the capital crime — in this case the fact that the homicide took place during the commission of a robbery — and only if the judge finds that the definitional aggravating circumstance, plus any other specified aggravating circum stance, outweighs any statutory and nonstatutory mitigating circumstances. Id. at-, 105 S.Ct. at 2732-33 (footnote omitted).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Evans v. State