Ex Parte: in the Matter of William Wells on a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

37 federal appellate · 18 district · 49 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 164 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The petitioner was convicted of murder in the District of Columbia, and sentenced to be hung [sic] on the 23d of April, 1852. President Fillmore granted to him a conditional pardon. The material part of it is as follows: ‘For divers good and sufficient reasons I have granted, and do hereby grant unto him, the said William Wells, a pardon of the offense of which he was convicted — upon condition that he be imprisoned during his natural life; that is, the sentence of death is hereby commuted to imprisonment for life * * *.’ ” Id. at 308 , 15 L.Ed. at 423 .”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Schick v. Reed · State ex rel. Maurer v. Sheward

2. “At the time of our separation from Great Britain, [the pardon] power had been exercised by the king, as the chief exec utive. Prior to the revolution, the colonies, being in effect under the laws of England, were accustomed to the exercise of it in the various forms, as they may be found in the English law books. They were, of course, to be applied as occasions occurred, and they constituted a part of the jurisprudence of Anglo-America. At the time of the adoption of the constitution, American statesmen were conversant with the laws of England, and familiar with the prerogatives exercised by the crown. Hence, when the words to grant pardons were used in the constitution, they conveyed to the mind the authority as exercised by the English crown, or by its representatives in the colonies. At that time both Englishmen and Americans attached the same meaning to the word pardon. In the convention which framed the constitution, no effort was made to define or change its meaning, although it was limited in cases of impeachment.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Ex parte Grossman · Pa Prison Society v. Cortes

3. ““The power to offer a condition, without ability to enforce its acceptance, when accepted by the convict, is the substitution by himself, of a lesser punishment than the law has imposed upon him, and he cannot complain if the law executes the choice he has made.” (Id.) (Emphasis added)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hoffa v. Saxbe · Blount v. Clarke