Gilbert v. Craddock’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is admitted that such authority may arise by implication. To be sure the implication must be a necessary one. It may be drawn from public policy; past acts; the entire terms, purposes and scope of the act to be considered; the inconvenience, inconsistencies and absurdities involved in the contrary consideration — indeed, from all things found in the act, the conditions surrounding it, the history antedating it, the purposes to be accomplished by it, and the policy dictating it. An act of the legislature is like any other writing in this respect. Its purposes are to be gathered from all of its terms. (Suth. Stat. Const., sec. 239.) A necessary implication does not mean to shut out every possible or imaginary conclusion, from which there is no possible escape, but means one leading to such a conclusion as, under the circumstances, a reasonable view impels us to take, the contrary of which would be improbable or absurd. Speaking upon the matter of implications in the consideration of statutes, it is said in Black on Interpretation of Laws, page 62: “ ‘This doctrine does not empower the courts to go to the length of supplying things which were intentionally omitted from the act. But it authorizes them to draw inferences from the general meaning and purpose of the legislature, and from the necessity of maldng the act operative and effectual, as to those minor or more specific things which are included in the more broad or general terms of the law, or as to those consequences o”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Foster v. Board of Education