Denham v. D.J.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The interpretation of a statute is a question of law, which is fully reviewable on appeal. B.D.H. v. Mickelson, 2010 ND 235, ¶ 4, 792 N.W.2d 169 . Our primary objective in interpreting a statute is to determine the legislature’s intent, and we initially look to the language of the statute to determine that intent. Id. at ¶ 6. Words in a statute are given their plain, ordinary, and commonly understood meaning, unless they are defined by statute or unless a contrary intention plainly appears. N.D.C.C. § 1-02-02. Statutes are construed as a whole and are harmonized to give meaning to related provisions. N.D.C.C. § 1-02-07. The letter of a statute cannot be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit when the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous. N.D.C.C. § 1-02-05.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Weeks v. Geiermann