Kirk v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 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. “[E]ffective June 17, 1993, the legislature enacted section 775.08401: Habitual offenders and habitual violent felony offenders; eligibility criteria. The state attorney in each judicial circuit shall adopt uniform criteria to be used in determining if an offender is eligible to be sentenced as a habitual offender or a habitual violent felony offender. The criteria shall be designed to insure fair and impartial application of the habitual offender statute. A deviation from this criteria must be explained in writing, signed by the state attorney, and placed in the case file maintained by the state attorney. A deviation from the adopted criteria is not subject to appellate review. By the enactment of the statute, the legislature recognized that since every felon who has a record that would otherwise qualify for habitual treatment will not, and should not, be habitualized, there must be some standard (at least within any particular circuit) on which to base a sentencing decision. By placing the obligation on the state attorney to develop and maintain the appropriate criteria, in my view, the legislature has now expressed an intent that the separate proceedings required by section 775.084(3) must be invoked by, and only by, the office of the state attorney. Otherwise the purpose of such section can be avoided by merely deferring to the sentencing philosophy of each individual judge. Did the legislature intend that a judge could sentence one as an habitual offender who would not be”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Young v. State

2. “Although our language referenced above in King is dictum in that case, we see no reason not to adopt it as our holding in this case. It achieves a logical and symmetrical result to read the habitual offender statute as giving the trial judge the power and discretion to both impose and refrain from imposing an habitual offender sentence. If the prosecutor were given the sole power to send the required notice to invoke a hearing on a defendant's habitual offender status, the trial judge could be deprived of the power to render a habitual offender sentence in a case he or she felt was appropriate, where the prosecutor (for various or whatever reason) took no action.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Young v. State

3. “Section 775.08401 is a discrete provision of the habitual offender statute and it adds a regulation that pertains exclusively to the conduct of state attorneys. This section does not add any new requirement for trial judges, much less remove any authority previously vested in trial judges. Judicial discretion in selecting cases for enhanced sentencing continues to be an important part of the statutory scheme. The trial judge's independent power to initiate habitual offender proceedings in a case similar to others in which the state attorney has routinely invoked the statute is a factor that operates as a further check on the potential for arbitrary enforcement.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Young v. State