Coates v. Windham’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 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 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““We believe that it is well settled that this constitutional prohibition states a principle of government and not a rigid classification as in a table of organization. This provision must be interpreted along with other constitutional provisions, and when this is done it is clear that the Constitution does three things; (1) it provides for three polar functions of government; (2) it delegates certain powers to each of the three departments in a distribution of all governmental powers; and (3) it blends legislative, executive and judicial powers in a great many cases. (Footnote omitted). The proper interpretation of Art. II, Sec. 1 is therefore dictated by its context. The proper interpretation is that this provision “prohibits a transfer of a whole mass of powers from one department to another and it prohibits a person of one branch from exercising a power historically or inherently belonging to another department. It may not be interpreted in a way that prevents cooperation or coordination between two or more branches of government, hindering altogether any effective governmental action. It was designed, as were other checks and balances, to prevent excess. State Board of Insurance v. Betts, 158 Tex. 83 , 308 S.W.2d 846 (1958).” Coates v. Windham, 613 S.W.2d 572 (Tex.Civ.App.—Austin, 1981, no writ). (Emphasis supplied)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Hardy · Rose v. State