Ritter v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis
726 F.2d 1505 · 1984
Citation profile
12 federal appellate · 11 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 36 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently September 2008 · most notably Baldwin v. Alabama (1985), 516 So. 2d 726 - Jackson v. State (1985)
12 federal appellate · 11 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Gregg v. Georgia · Furman v. Georgia · Lockett v. Ohio · Sanders v. United States · Eddings v. Oklahoma
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 36 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“§ 13-11-2(a) If the jury finds the defendant guilty [of one of the aggravated offenses listed in § 13-11-2], it shall fix the punishment at death.... ". . . . "§ 13-11-3. If the jury finds the defendant guilty of one of the aggravated offenses listed in section 13-11-2 and fixes the punishment at death, the court shall thereupon hold a hearing to aid the court to determine whether or not the court will sentence the defendant to death or to life imprisonment without parole.... "§ 13-11-4. Notwithstanding the fixing of the punishment at death by the jury, the court, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, may refuse to accept the death penalty as fixed by the jury and sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole, which shall be served without parole; or the court, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the fixing of the punishment at death by the jury, may accordingly sentence the defendant to death.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Ex Parte Baldwin“The import of Stephens is clear: a federal harmless error analysis will be applied to a facial constitutional defect in a capital sentencing scheme if, and only if, two criteria are met. First, independent of the invalid factor, the sentencing scheme must limit and channel the sentencer’s discretion. Second, the invalid factor must not inject constitutionally impermissible or totally irrelevant considerations into the sentencer’s exercise of that discretion. In Stephens , both of these criteria were met, and the defendant’s death sentence was therefore constitutionally imposed____”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“was not binding on the trial judge and that the statute required the trial judge to consider the circumstances of the particular offense and the character and propensities of the offender. There is no inconsistency between this reasoning and the sentencing judge's having to consider the jury's conclusion along with the other relevant factors. 49 If state law were as clear as the Court suggests, one would expect the State's otherwise thorough brief to include some support for the Court's view of Alabama law. According to the petitioner, the”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Baldwin v. Alabama
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.