Passaro v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

23 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Implications aside, we are further and ultimately drawn to this conclusion by our primary concern for the parolee’s right to effective counsel, lest his guaranteed constitutional rights give way to convenience, protocol and economics. To this end, we must honor that alternative which attends the best interests of justice and the individual. It is patently absurd, for whatever reason, to require defense counsel to travel the width and breadth of this Commonwealth, to necessitate the transportation of parolees and the attendant security problems, and to incur wholly unnecessary expenses in time and money when those same interests can be served by the incarceration site’s public defender. We are certainly not unmindful of the potential economic inequities to be borne by individual counties. However, given the fundamental rights to be protected, whether they be of the parolee or the people of this Commonwealth, the long-term aggregate costs to be borne for this process will be minimized by allowing the county public defenders to do their job. Should the proposed solution reach crisis proportions, legislation in the form of direction and/or funding can provide a solution.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Brewer v. Commonwealth

2. “The following procedures shall apply in those cases in which the only violation charged is the conviction for a new criminal offense: (3) Prior to the hearing set forth in paragraph (1) of this section, the parolee will be visited by a representative of the Board and notified, both orally and in writing, of the following: (iv) His right to speak, to have voluntary witnesses appear on his behalf, to present evidence by affidavit, and to present other evidence in his defense.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 57 Pa. Commw. 166 - Stanton v. Commonwealth