Thomas v. Kemp’s Empirical Analysis
796 F.2d 1322 · 1986
Citation profile
21 federal appellate · 12 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 58 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently November 2017 · most notably Kubat v. Thieret (1989), State v. Savage (1990)
21 federal appellate · 12 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 Strickland v. Washington · Chapman v. State of California · Gregg v. Georgia · Pate v. Robinson · Drope v. Missouri
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 58 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[t]he key aspect of the penalty trial is that the sentence be individualized, focusing on the particularized characteristics of the individual.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[t]wo faculty members of the Roosevelt High School, which Thomas attended, testified that had they been called to the sentencing hearing, they would have told the jury about Thomas' difficult home environment, about the mental and physical abuse which he encountered there, about his mother's drinking problem, and that Thomas, despite being a slow learner, had worked hard to improve his grades. Two former employers would have testified that Thomas was an excellent worker when given simple work assignments, was always punctual, and had suffered adverse consequences from his mother's drinking problem. Various family members would have testified that Thomas was a loving son who cared deeply for his mother. A psychiatrist could have presented testimony showing Thomas as a pathetically sick youngster who had struggled to succeed in life, both in school and on the job, despite a chaotic home environment and a major mental illness.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“counsel had access to the transcript of the preliminary hearing because he used the transcript to impeach the testimony of the State's main witnesses”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.