Bracken v. Jones’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 56 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 59 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Possession, to be of any value to vest a right or bar a remedy, must be actual, continued, visible, notorious, distinct, and hostile. It must be fair and open as ‘the statute was not made to serve the purpose of artifice and trick.’ Sailor v. Hertzogg, 2 Pa. 185 , quoted in Word v. Drouthett, 44 Tex. 370 ; Satterwhite v. Rosser, 61 Tex. 166 . It can scarcely be said that in such a case as the present the possession is notorious, visible, and distinct, so as to fulfil the requirements of the 10-year section of the statute of limitation. Whilst the true owner is chargeable, with a knowledge of the boundaries of his land, he can hardly be affected with notice that a neighbor, who has encroached a few- feet upon his tract, is doing so for the purpose of acquiring title to 640 acres of it. He would rather impute it to a mistake on the part of the apparent trespasser as to the division 'line between them. Whilst this might not excuse the party trespassed upon for not asserting his right to the land actually occupied by the trespasser, it would certainly save him from such consequences as the loss of a section of his land. The party encroaching would be entitled to no more than the land actually occupied by him. The case is different when one settles upon the land of another, claiming under a recorded deed, and having his improvements located within the bounds called for in such deed. Then the true owner has notice of the extent of the claim of his adversary, and that the improveme”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gallup v. Cammack · Polk v. Carey

2. ““Possession, to be of any value to vest a right or bar a remedy, must be actual, continued, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile. It must be fair and open, as ‘the statute was not made to serve the purpose of artifice and trick.’ ””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Houston Oil Co. of Texas v. Jenkins · Lyles v. Dodge

3. ““It is a general rule that, where a person relies upon naked possession as a foundation for an adverse claim to land, there must be an actual occupancy, and beyond this the possession cannot be extended.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Meredith v. Mitchell