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

1. “[T]he Court is concerned with the State’s failure to treat Burdine’s case with the seriousness it deserves: The law of habeas corpus is subtle and intricate; mistakes are easy to make. But it is a body of law which the lawyers employed by a state attorney general should be masters. Failing to achieve such mastery, they should not blame federal judges for springing dangerous criminals free to prey on the citizenry whose safety the attorney general is sworn to protect. Fagan v. Washington, 942 F.2d 1155, 1157 (7th Cir.1991) (Posner, J.). Throughout its brief, the State seeks to minimize its failure to comply with established procedural rules as “excusable neglect.” However, a similar procedural error by defense counsel in a capital case could result in a defendant’s execution. See e.g. McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467 , 111 S.Ct. 1454 , 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991) (petitioner failed to abide by proper habeas procedural rules and therefore abused writ; petitioner thereafter executed); Smith v. Murray, 477 U.S. 527 , 106 S.Ct. 2661 , 91 L.Ed.2d 434 (1986) (petitioner failed to follow proper appellate procedure and claim was therefore procedurally defaulted; petitioner thereafter executed); Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722 , 111 S.Ct. 2546 , 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991) (petitioner failed to timely file notice of appeal; petitioner thereafter executed). Equal justice under the law in American jurisprudence mandates that the same principles and rules be applied to a criminal defendant as to t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 120 F. Supp. 2d 784 - Wanatee v. Ault