63 Ill. 2d 534 - People v. Bratcher’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

251 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 254 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself *** against such other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself ***.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 7-1.)”

   7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 61 Ill. App. 3d 785 - People v. Tiller · 141 Ill. 2d 147 - People v. Everette

2. ““[T]he prime consideration in construing a statutory enactment is to give effect to the intent of the legislature. In ascertaining this intent, the entire statute must be considered [citation], and also ‘the evil to be remedied and the object to be attained’ [citation].””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 150 Ill. App. 3d 733 - Johnson v. Lincoln Christian College

3. ““Recognizing that criminal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the accused, we still must ascertain the legislative intent [citation] and in cases where the language is unambiguous, we are bound by the language of the statute.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. People v. Joseph