621 F. Supp. 2d 76 - United States v. Hashmi’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district ·

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

1. “In light of the purposes of the PLRA, an action is best understood as a civil or criminal judicial proceeding. The Court finds that this definition constitutes the plain meaning of the statutory language, a meaning that should be given effect unless it would create an absurd result. Finding that the current motion is not an “action” would not lead to an absurd result. Congress’s clear purpose in enacting the PLRA, as the Supreme Court has recognized, was to reduce the quantity of lawsuits related to prison conditions. The initiation of a new lawsuit is certainly a more costly process than an application for a specific ruling or order brought to a court in the context of an already-pending action. A new lawsuit requires, inter alia, the assignment of a Judge; the effectuation of service on the Government; a formal answer from the Defendant; the briefing of a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, etc. This is a costly process. A motion by a pretrial detainee, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive. Thus it would certainly not be absurd for Congress to have intended that a motion be treated differently from the initiation of an action.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Mohamed

2. “CIPA was a legislative response to the problem of “graymail,” whereby a defendant “threatens to reveal classified information during the course of his trial in the hope of forcing the government to drop the criminal charge against him.” United States v. Anderson, 872 F.2d 1508, 1514 (11th Cir.1989); United States v. Pappas, 94 F.3d 795, 798, 799 (2d Cir.1996). CIPA was designed “to reconcile, on the one hand, a criminal defendant’s right to obtain prior to trial classified information and introduce such material at trial, with, on the other hand, the government’s duty to protect from disclosure sensitive information that could compromise national security.” United States v. Libby, 467 F.Supp.2d 20, 35, 37 (D.D.C.2006). The statute is a procedural tool allowing a court to make rulings on admissibility and relevance before the commencement of trial. Id.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Drake