United States v. Ecker’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

25 federal appellate · 12 district · 45 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 91 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Proceedings involving the care and treatment of the mentally ill are not strictly adversary proceedings. . . . These are truly investigatory proceedings in which traditional notions of proof are simply inapplicable. The [court], the hospital, the patient, and the government share an obligation to elucidate and explore all the relevant facts.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Hill v. State · Locklear v. Hultine

2. “Where any person has been confined in a hospital for the mentally ill pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and the superintendent of such hospital certifies: (1) That such person has recovered his sanity: (2) that, in the opinion of the superintendent, such person will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others; and (3) in the opinion of the superintendent, the person is entitled to his unconditional release from the hospital, and such certificate is filed with the clerk of the court in which the person was tried, and a copy thereof is served on the United States Attorney ..., such certificate shall be sufficient to authorize the court to order the unconditional release of the person so confined ...; but the court in its discretion may, or upon objection of the United States ... shall, after due notice, hold a hearing at which evidence as to the mental condition of the person so confined may be submitted, including the testimony of 1 or more psychiatrists from said hospital. The court shall weigh the evidence and, if the court finds that such person has recovered his sanity and will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others, the court shall order such person unconditionally released from further confinement in said hospital. If the court does not so find, the court shall order such person returned to said hospital. Where, in the judgment of the superintendent of such hospital, a person confined under subsection (d) of this secti”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Harman v. United States · DeVeau v. United States

3. “Confinement of the mentally ill rests upon a basis substantially different from that which supports confinement of those convicted of crime. In the latter case, with rare exceptions, the continuing validity of confinement rests solely on the validity of the initial commitment. Confinement of the mentally ill, however, depends not only upon the validity of the initial commitment but also upon the continuing status of the patient. Specifically, under our statutes, he must be released from the hospital if he is no longer mentally ill; if, although he remains mentally ill, he is no longer “likely to injure himself or other persons”; or, should the patient so desire, if a course of outpatient treatment can be fashioned that will adequately protect the interests both of the patient and the public. [Footnotes omitted.]”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Hill v. State · Jones v. United States