Moses v. Mele’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 4 district ·

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

1. “accurately takes the measure of a case, persuasively explains its reasoning, and reaches a correct result, it serves no useful purpose for a reviewing court to write at length in placing its seal of approval on the decision below.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Gilbert v. City of Chicopee · Aurelius Capital Master, Ltd. v. Commonwealth (In re Fin. Oversight & Mgmt. Bd. for Puerto Rico)

2. “The doctrine of qualified immunity protects a state actor from liability for damages under section 1983 as long as his conduct did not violate clearly established constitutional or federal statutory rights. The official’s actions are gauged by a standard of objective reasonableness. To obtain the benefit of qualified immunity, a police officer need not follow an unquestionably constitutional path. The case at hand exemplifies this point; where, as here, a section 1983 action rests on a claim of false arrest, the qualified immunity standard is satisfied ‘so long as the presence of probable cause is at least arguable.’”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 95 F. Supp. 3d 119 - Cocroft v. Smith

3. “The mere fact that the parties espouse differing versions of the truth does not preclude summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. What counts is whether the undisputed facts, together with the nonmoving party's version of any disputed facts, suffice[] to remove the shield of qualified immunity.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Johnson v. City of Biddeford