Wright v. Callahan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “If the territorial office was not abolished, and further, if the only change the adoption of Section 1 of Article IV worked was a change of name, then and in that case, it follows the adoption of that section did not change — add any powers and duties to, nor take any from —the office; it simply gave the office a new but synonymous name, and that having been done, lifted it out of the 1887 statute, together with its appurtenant powers and duties, and placed the whole in Section 1, supra. jj< 3¡í. >¡< • ;{; The statute under consideration, in the main, clearly takes from the State Auditor activities which prior to the time of the adoption of the Constitution, were vested in the territorial controller, and since the adoption of the Constitution, have been in the office of State Auditor as a constitutional officer; even though some of such duties have not, by reason of intermittent enactments by the legislature, always been in the State Auditor, they nevertheless belong there. 59 C.J. 116. * * * * * =1= Having concluded the powers and duties conferred upon the territorial controller as an auditor and “superintendent of the fiscal concerns” and affairs of the territory were, by the adoption of Section 1 of Article IV, supra, impliedly vested in the State Auditor, the legislature could not, therefore, divest him thereof by creating the office of comptroller and vesting in the comptroller the powers and duties which the Constitution already affixed to the auditor’s office.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 23 Utah 2d 336 - Allen v. Rampton

2. ““At the time of the adoption and ratification of our Constitution the terms ‘state auditor’ and ‘controller,’ as evidenced by the constitutions and statutes of that period, were generally and commonly understood to connote a supervising officer of revenue whose duties were to audit all claims against the state. We must presume that the framers of our Constitution so employed the term ‘state auditor’ Citing cases.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hudson v. Kelly

3. ““The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction * * *. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by this Constitution and as may be prescribed by law.” (Emphasis supplied.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Padgett v. Williams