700 So. 2d 104 - Travis v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

23 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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]f a defendant brings a facial challenge to a statute based on vagueness, and if the statute in question does not implicate constitutionally protected conduct, the court must determine whether the enactment is impermissibly vague in all of its applications. The court must not entertain countless hypothetical situations in which the statute might be considered vague, but rather the court must begin by applying the enactment to the facts of the case at hand. If the statute is not vague when considered under those facts, then by definition it cannot be vague in all of its applications. This procedure eliminates the possibility the court will make an unnecessary declaration that a statute is invalid. If a statute clearly prohibits the conduct of the defendant in the case at hand, the court need not determine whether the statute clearly prohibits all conduct that might be within its scope.... [S]tatutes should not be declared facially invalid "simply because difficulty is found in determining whether certain marginal offenses fall within their language."”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Reaves v. State · State v. Kirvin

2. “[T]here is an important distinction between a challenge to the facial validity of a statute and a challenge to a statute as it applies to a given set of facts. When a defendant brings a vagueness challenge to a statute not implicating other constitutional rights, the court must use the facts as a starting point in the determination whether the statute is valid on its face. If the court agrees that the statute is void for vagueness, the statute cannot be applied in any case regardless of the facts. In contrast, when a defendant asserts a challenge to a statute as applied, the court must consider the facts to determine whether the statute can be fairly used to proscribe that defendant's conduct, and the result is not binding on other parties.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Kirvin · 813 So. 2d 117 - ACCELERATED BEN. CORP. v. Dept. of Ins.

3. “[A] statute like paragraph 893.13(1)(e) which does not purport to regulate constitutionally protected conduct can be struck down as being unconstitutionally vague only if the statutory language is so vague that it fails to give adequate notice of any conduct that the statute proscribes. Thus, when addressing the instant vagueness claim, the first question is whether the defendants engaged in conduct that is clearly proscribed by the statute. If so, the defendants cannot prevail on their claim of vagueness.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Kirvin · 761 So. 2d 1234 - Hobby v. State