Miller v. Wallace’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 71 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Prima facie, the right of custody of an infant is in the father, and when this right is resisted, upon the ground of his unfitness for the trust or other cause, a proper regard to the sanctity of the parental relation will require that the objection be sustained by clear and satisfactory proofs. ‘A clear and strong case’ must be made to sustain an objection to the father’s right.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Pinney v. Sulzen · Wilson v. Mitchell

2. “whether the father, by a voluntary contract, released his legal and parental right to the control of his child to . . . [the grandparents]. or whether he consented to her adoption by them, . . . for it is not pretended that he forfeited his right to her custody and control, either by a failure or inability to provide necessaries for her, or by abandoning her, or by cruel treatment, or that by reason of his bad character and immoral habits, he could not be trusted with her rearing and education without detriment to her well being”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Perkins v. Courson

3. “It is indisputable that the father, under the law, has the control of his minor child, and that this can be relinquished or forfeited only in one of the modes recognized by law, including those above specified, with some others not applicable to the present status of this case [citing the present Code § 30-127, 74-106, 74-108 and 74-109].”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Perkins v. Courson