Ford v. Retter’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “Although Anderson [v. Creighton] makes it clear that qualified immunity is available as a defense to a Fourth Amendment claim of an unreasonable search, Graham leaves open the question of whether qualified immunhy would apply in the excessive force case. Because the excessive force inquiry is governed by the same "objective reasonableness” standard as the qualified immunity inquiry, a number of courts and commentators have suggested that the qualified immunity defense is redundant in this context and does not apply. Those adhering to this view would frame the question on the merits and the qualified immunity question in the same way: was the official's conduct objectively reasonable given the totality of the circumstances?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 860 F. Supp. 966 - Owens v. Colburn

2. “|T]he determination of qualified immunity turns on the same objective reasonableness standard that the claim of excessive force turns on____”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 860 F. Supp. 966 - Owens v. Colburn