United States v. Eberhard’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 1 district ·

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

1. “Sentencing courts had access to victim statements long before the Justice for All Act. We noted in 1989 that “[t]he sentencing court’s discretion is ‘largely unlimited either as to the kind of information [it] may consider, or the source from which it may come.’ ” United States v. Carmona, 873 F.2d 569, 574 (2d Cir.1989) (quoting United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 446 , 92 S.Ct. 589 , 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972)) (emphasis add ed). And 18 U.S.C. § 3661 , which was enacted in 1948, provides that “[n]o limitation shall be placed on the information concerning the background, character, and conduct of a person convicted of an offense which a court of the United States may receive and consider for the purpose of imposing an appropriate sentence.” By the end of 1994, district courts were required to allow victims of violence and sexual abuse to speak at sentencing, see Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(i)(4)(B) (2004), and were permitted to allow any other victim to speak, see Fed.R.Crim.P. 32 advisory comm, note, 1994 amendments, sub. (e).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 612 F. Supp. 2d 453 - United States v. Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co.

2. “[Defendant] also complains that he received insufficient notice both of the identity of the victims who would address the sentencing court and of the nature of their statements. But the court afforded [defendant] an opportunity to respond after hearing from the victims. [Defendant] neither objected to the victim statements nor requested additional time to prepare a more thorough response. It was not plain error for the district court to impose sentence immediately thereafter.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 612 F. Supp. 2d 453 - United States v. Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co.

3. “(1) “make[] an action, done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent when done, criminal; and punish[ ] such action,” (2) “aggravate[ ] a crime,” making it “greater” than when committed, (3) increase the punishment beyond that prescribed when the action was done, or (4) “alter [ ] the legal rules of evidence, [to] receive[ ] less, or different, testimony, than the law required at the time of the commission of the offence, in order to convict the offender.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. United States v. Coccia