Rowles v. Rowles’s Empirical Analysis
1995
Citation profile
61 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Commonwealth Ex Rel. Spriggs v. Carson · 249 Pa. Super. 274 - In Re Custody of Hernandez · Ellerbe v. Hooks · Albright v. Commonwealth Ex Rel. Fetters · 416 Pa. Super. 118 - Gradwell v. Strausser
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 63 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“all seven justices, agreed on several principles: `the parent-child relationship should be considered to be of importance in determining which custody arrangement is in the child's best interest,' `special weight' and `deference' should be accorded the parent-child relationship, and the relationship should not be disturbed `without some showing of harm' or unless circumstances `clearly indicate the appropriateness of awarding custody to a non-parent”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“[T]he parents have ‘a prima facie right to custody,’ which will be forfeited only if ‘convincing reasons’ appear that the child’s best interest will be served by an award to the third party. Thus, even before the proceedings start, the eviden-tiary scale is tipped, and tipped hard, to the parents’ side. What the judge must do, therefore, is first, hear all evidence relevant to the child’s best interest, and then, decide whether the evidence on behalf of the third party is weighty enough to bring the scale up to even, and down on the third party’s side.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“By clearly eliminating the presumption per se, and mandating that custody be determined by a preponderance of evidence, weighing parenthood as a strong factor for consideration, custody proceedings would be disentangled from the burden of applying a presumption that merely beclouds the ultimate concern in these cases: the determination of what affiliation will best serve the child's interests, including physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, and spiritual well-being.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.