Dix v. Kemp’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 federal appellate ·

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

1. “In most cases, this will mean that the judge must clearly and explicitly instruct the jury about mitigating circumstances and the option to recommend against death; in order to do so, the judge will normally tell the jury what a mitigating circumstance is and what its function is in the jury’s sentencing deliberations. In some instances, it will be possible for the judge clearly to instruct the jury so as to guide and focus its consideration of the particularized circumstances of the individual offense and the individual offender without explicitly defining the nature and function of mitigating circumstances: if, for example, the state sentencing procedure permits the jury to impose the death penalty only after giving specified answers to special interrogatories, and if those interrogatories satisfactorily focus the jury’s consideration on the circumstances of the offense and the offender, then the requisite guidance is achieved without explicit discussion of mitigating circumstances.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Peek v. Kemp

2. “most importantly, the instruction did not explain the function of a mitigating circumstance. The charge never set forth the reasons that a mitigating circumstance might be significant and never explained that mitigating circumstances could lead a jury to recommend mercy. The courts in Morgan and Westbrook both stressed that the failure to explain the function of mitigating circumstances was a serious shortcoming that rendered the instructions “hollow.” 743 F.2d at 779 ; 704 F.2d at 1503 . Likewise in this, case, the court’s charge left the jury without proper guidance in its sentencing deliberations, which amounted to a violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 623 F. Supp. 316 - High v. Kemp