State v. Overweg’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 3 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The first step in statutory interpretation is to 'determine whether the statute's language, on its face, is ambiguous.' " Larson v. State , 790 N.W.2d 700 , 703 (Minn. 2010) (quoting Am. Tower, L.P. v. City of Grant , 636 N.W.2d 309 , 312 (Minn. 2001) ). "A statute is ambiguous only when the statutory language is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Defatte

2. “If a statute does not define a ... phrase, we give that ... phrase its 'plain and ordinary meaning.' " State v. Prigge , 907 N.W.2d 635 , 638 (Minn. 2018) (quoting State v. Hayes , 826 N.W.2d 799 , 803-04 (Minn. 2013) ). "Statutory words and phrases must be construed according to the rules of grammar and common usage.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Defatte

3. “State v. Fleck , 810 N.W.2d 303 , 307 (Minn. 2012). If a statute is unambiguous, we”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Defatte