Roberts v. Roberts’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “a. That both parties are capable of providing care of the minor children. b. That both parties have participated in acts that bear on their moral character, to-wit: [Wife] with the ZCMI incident [engaged in a sexual act with another man in parking terrace] and [Husband] with incident at the bar [asking women for their phone numbers and asking for money back on drinks if he didn't get the number]. Further, the court finds that the incident at the bar did in fact take place and that [Husband] was less than candid in his testimony given to the court regarding the same. c. That [Husband] has physically abused [Wife] during the marriage. [He punched her and broke her nose] d. That although [Husband] has had custody of the minor children since 1990; since that period of time is not substantial the court has not given it a great deal of weight. e. That both parties have a desire for custody and a bonding with the children. f. That [Wife] was the primary caretaker of the minor children during the marriage and prior to the separation in January, 1990. g. That [Wife] is far more amenable to giving liberal visitation to [Husband] than [Husband] would be to [Wife]. h. That [Wife] has better parental skills than [Husband] based upon her being the primary caretaker. i. That it is in the best interests of the children that [Wife] be awarded the sole care, custody and control of the two (2) minor children of the parties.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Barnes v. Barnes

2. “7. The evaluator considered the best interests of the children and determined the plaintiff had the emotional stability and character to be awarded custody. 8. The court considered, among other things, the relative strength of parental bonds, relative ability of parents to provide care, supervision and suitable environment for children, and the parents’ desire for custody. 9. The court considered the issues raised by the parties at trial. 10. The court considered the apparent commitment of the parties to parenting. 11. The scholastic performances of the three minor children declined during the period in which the defendant had temporary custody. 14. It is in the best interests of the children that custody of the parties’ minor children be awarded to the plaintiff. 15. It is in the best interests of the children that said custody be subject to maximum visitation privileges in the defendant and that the custody Evaluation sets out a minimum visitation schedule. 16. It is in the best interests of the children that the defendant have a real opportunity to be involved in the children’s lives.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Barnes v. Barnes

3. “'Moral standards' are a statutory consideration, and may be relevant to a custody determination to the extent they affect the children's best interests.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Robertson v. Robertson