In Re Lemoine’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A judge's clear violation of a statute is misconduct, because it is a judge violating the law, and such disobedience or disrespect for the law, which his very oath commands that he support, constitutes "willful misconduct relating this official duty," under Art. V, § 25(C) of the Constitution.[ [3] ] Such a statutory violation would also constitute an ethical breach under Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct.[ [4] ] At the time of Judge Lemoine's violation of C.Cr.P. art. 671, Canon 2, titled "A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All Activities," provided in part: A. judge should respect and comply with the law and should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. (Emphasis supplied). On the other hand, violation of law is not a necessary prerequisite for finding misconduct warranting judicial discipline. Rather, even absent deviation from some statutory provision (or for that matter, absent the violation of a canon of the Code of Judicial Conduct), a judge's misconduct may be so serious as to constitute that type of "willful misconduct relating to his official duty, willful and persistent failure to perform his duty, [or] persistent and public conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute ..." and warrant discipline under Art. V, § 25(C). From this we see that the absence of a statute ordering a judge to recuse himsel”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 709 So. 2d 962 - O'NEILL v. Thibodeaux · 694 So. 2d 892 - In Re Cooks

2. “[V]iolation of law is not a necessary prerequisite for finding misconduct warranting judicial discipline. Rather, even absent deviation from some statutory provision ... a judge's misconduct may be so serious as to constitute that type of `willful misconduct relating to his official duty, willful and persistent failure to perform his duty, [or] persistent and public conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute ...' and warrant discipline under Art. V, § 25(C).”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 705 So. 2d 172 - In Re Quirk · 709 So. 2d 962 - O'NEILL v. Thibodeaux

3. “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 709 So. 2d 962 - O'NEILL v. Thibodeaux · 694 So. 2d 892 - In Re Cooks