Moore v. Ferguson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “- Our supreme court has held that: The primary objective of a civil contempt proceeding is not to punish the defendant, but rather to coerce action for the benefit of the aggrieved party. Punishment in the form of imprisonment or a fine levied against the defendant, which goes to the State and not to the injured party, is characteristic of a criminal proceeding. In a civil contempt action the fine is to be paid to the aggrieved party, and imprisonment is for the purpose of coercing compliance with the order.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. State · Branum v. State

2. “must be viewed as remedial if the court conditions release upon the contemnor's willingness to [comply with the order].”

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

3. “The only limit on the sentence is that it must give the contemnor an opportunity to purge himself from contempt”

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