Arnold v. Arnold’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

70 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 70 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Section 139 of the Civil Code provides that where a divorce is granted for an offense of the husband the court may compel him to provide for the maintenance of the children of the marriage and to make a suitable allowance to the wife for her support during her life, or for a shorter period, as the court may deem just, 'having regard to the circumstances of the parties respectively.' The theory of this requirement is that the husband entered upon an obligation which bound him to support his wife during the period of their joint lives, that by his own wrong he has forced her to sever the relation which enabled her to compel the performance of this duty, and that he is required to make compensation for the offense committed by him which deprived her of the benefit of the obligation. (In re Spencer, 83 Cal. 460, 464 [ 23 P. 395 , 17 Am.St. Rep. 266]; Honey v. Honey, 60 Cal.App. 759, 761 [ 214 P. 250 ].) A woman past middle age can seldom rehabilitate herself after a break in marriage relations and the courts may properly safeguard her financial future where the marriage is dissolved for the offense of the husband. (Farrar v. Farrar, 41 Cal.App. 452, 457 [ 182 P. 989 ].)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 233 Cal. App. 2d 575 - Hansen v. Hansen · 199 Cal. App. 2d 876 - Brawman v. Brawman