Campbell v. Hall’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The code section contains no ambiguous language and requires no interpretation. It declares in plain terms that an illegitimate child cannot be adopted without the consent of the mother if living. If the legislature had intended that the consent of the father was also necessary, it would have said so in simple language as it did in the first part of the section relating to the adoption of a legitimate child. On the authority of decisions taken from other jurisdictions the appellant argues that as a general rule the putative father of an illegitimate child is entitled to preference in its adoption if found competent and suitable for that purpose. The argument is persuasive in so far as it states a general rule bearing on the discretion of the court in adoption proceedings, but it has no force here for two reasons--the code section places no such limitation upon the exercise of the discretion of the court, and there is no finding that the appellant was competent and suitable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 226 Cal. App. 2d 238 - Adoption of Irby

2. “A legitimate child cannot be adopted without the consent of its parents if living; ... nor an illegitimate child without the consent of its mother if living; ...”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 226 Cal. App. 2d 238 - Adoption of Irby