Peoples v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

37 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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The act was not only immoral, violative of the law of nature, and deliberate in character, but reckless of life, and wrongful' per se. The death of the woman may not have been intended; there may have been no express malice against her. Neither is there in the case of one, who, knowing that people are passing upon a street, throws a stone from a housetop, resulting in death; but yet a killing under such circumstances is not involuntary manslaughter, o'r a killing per infortunium. . . . By at least the earlier common law it appears to have been nothing less than murder, although there may have been no intention to kill the woman. . . . Conceding it to be the common law rule that one is not indictable for the commission of an abortion unless the child has quickened, yet all the authorities agree that if from the means used the death of the woman results, it is either murder or manslaughter.” (pp. 490, 491, 493.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Harris

2. “She is looked upon rather as the victim than as a co-offender.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 701 So. 2d 338 - State v. Ashley