Sonnier v. Quarterman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 federal appellate · 1 district · 1 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 48 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “First, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.' Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so ■ serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings,, it cannot be said that the conviction or death sentence resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wood v. Quarterman · Villegas v. Quarterman

2. “[t]he Fourteenth Amendment’s promise that no person shall be denied the .equal protection of the laws must coexist with the practical necessity that most legislation classifies for one purpose or another, with resulting disadvantage to various groups or persons. We have attempted to reconcile the principle with the reality that by stating that, if a law neither burdens a fundamental right nor targets a suspect class, we will uphold the legislative classification so long as it bears a rational relation to some legitimate end.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Duarte v. City of Lewisville