In Re Misty Lee H.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The trial justice who hears and is able to appraise all the testimony of the parties and their experts in social work and child psychology ... exercises a broad discretion, and is charged with a correspondingly weighty responsibility, to determine the particularly sensitive question of a child’s best interest[]. His judgment, when properly exercised on the basis of the evidence before him, is entitled to very substantial deference .... An appellate court’s independent evaluation of the evidence is especially inappropriate on a delicate issue of this sort.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. In Re Michaela C.

2. “(i) The parent is unwilling or unable to protect the child from jeopardy and these circumstances are unlikely to change within a time which is reasonably calculated to meet the child’s needs; (ii) The parent has been unwilling or unable to take responsibility for the child within a time which is reasonably calculated to meet the child’s needs; (iii) The child has been abandoned; or (iv) The parent has failed to make a good faith effort to rehabilitate and reunify with the child pursuant to section 4041.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. In Re David G.

3. “"Jeopardy to health or welfare” or "jeopardy” means serious abuse or neglect as evidenced by: [[Image here]] B. Deprivation of adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision or care, including health care when that deprivation causes a threat of serious harm.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. In Re Jeffrey E.