Mitchell v. Harmony’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

40 federal appellate · 28 district · 28 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 221 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““But we are dearly of opinion that in all of these cases the clanger must he immediate and impending, or the necessity urgent for the public service, such-as will not admit of delay, and where the action of the civil authority would be too late in providing the means which the occasion calls for. * * * It is the emergency that gives the right, and the emergency must be shown to exist before the taking can be justified.””

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Sterling v. Constantin · Roxford Knitting Co. v. Moore & Tierney, Inc.

2. “The practice in 'this respect differs in different states. In some of them the court neither sums up the evidence in a charge to thé jury nor expresses an opinion upon a question of fact. Its charge is strictly confined to questions of law, leaving the evidence to be discussed by counsel, and the facts to be decided by the jury without commentary or opinion by the court. But in most of the states the practice is otherwise; and they have adopted the usage of the English courts of justice, where the judge always sums up the evidence, and points out the conclusions which in his opinion ought to be drawn from it; submitting them, however, to the consideration and judgment of the jury. It is not necessary to inquire which of these modes of proceeding most conduces to the purposes of justice. It is sufficient to say that, either of them may be adopted under the laws of Congress. And as it is desirable that the practice in the courts of the United States should conform as nearly as practicable to that of the state in which they are sitting, that mode of proceeding is perhaps to be preferred which, from long established- usage and practice, has become the law Of the courts of the state.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway v. Vickers

3. ““That with the charge of the court to the jury upon mere matters of fact, and with its commentaries upon the weight of evidence, this court lias nothing to do; observations of that nature are understood to be addressed to the jury merely tor their eonsiilerat on as the ultimate judges of matters of fact, and are entitled to no more, weight or importance than the jury in the exercise of their own judgment choose to give them. They neither are, nor are they understood to be, binding upon them as the true and conclusive exposition of the evidence. ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hayes v. United States