Warner v. Warner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"The appropriate standard to be applied by the trial court in determining the custody of a child of a dissolved marriage is that of the `best interest of the child.' This standard is repeated throughout article 146, and is the sole criterion to be met in making the award. The trial judge sits as a sort of fiduciary on behalf of the child, and must pursue actively that course of conduct which will be of the greatest benefit to the child. It is the child's emotional, physical, material and social well-being and health which are the judge's very purpose in child custody cases. He must protect the child from the harsh realities of the parents' often bitter, vengeful, and typically highly emotional conflict. The legislature has mandated that the judge shall look only to the child's interests. In furtherance of this important goal, the court has been vested with broad and independent powers. It may, for example, order that an investigation be conducted into the home lives of the parties, the psychological health of the child, or into any other factor which the judge deems to be important in his determination of the child's best interest. C.C. 146(C)(3). In this way, the court can fulfill its obligations to the child. The legislature also established a list of preferred custodial arrangements: to both parents jointly, to either parent, to the person in whose home the child has been living, or to any other person deemed appropriate by the court, C.C. 146(A)(1)-(4), provided that any ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Richard v. Tarzetti