Spears v. State’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. ““In Ex parte Kelley, 766 So.2d 837, 839-40 (Ala.1999), our supreme court applied the proportionality test set out in United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 821 , 118 S.Ct. 2028 , 141 L.Ed.2d 314 (1998), to determine whether the seizure of a vehicle constituted an excessive fine. The court first set out the general standard — the proportionality test. “ ‘ “The touchstone of the constitutional inquiry under the Excessive Fines Clause is the principle of proportionality. The amount of the forfeiture must bear some relationship to the gravity of the offense that it is designed to punish.... Until today, however, we have not articulated a standard for determining whether a punitive forfeiture is constitutionally excessive. We now hold that a punitive forfeiture violates the Excessive Fines Clause if it is grossly disproportional to the gravity of a defendant’s offense.” ’ “Ex parte Kelley, 766 So.2d at 839 (quoting Bajakajian, 524 U.S. at 334 , 118 S.Ct. 2028 ). Our supreme court then discussed the United States Supreme Court’s explanation of how to apply the proportionality test, which requires a court considering the issue to ‘ “compare the amount of the forfeiture to the gravity of the defendant’s offense. If the amount of the forfeiture is grossly disproportional to the gravity of the defendant’s offense, it is unconstitutional.”’ Ex parte Kelley, 766 So.2d at 840 (quoting Bajakajian, 524 U.S. at 336-37 , 118 S.Ct. 2028 ). “The Kelley court then considered whether the forfeitur”

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

2. ““The federal courts have enumerated some possible factors for consideration by a court facing an excessive-fine argument in [a] civil-forfeiture case. See United States v. One 1992 Isuzu Trooper VIN # JACDH58W3N79112571, 51 F.Supp.2d 1268 (M.D.Ala.1999). Among the possible factors are ‘(1) the culpability of the claimant; (2) the gravity of the crime; (3) the sentence that could have been imposed on the perpetrator of the offense; and (4) the nature and value of the property forfeited.’ One 1992 Isuzu Trooper, 51 F.Supp.2d at 1273 n. 4. The claimant in One 1992 Isuzu Trooper was not involved in the drug transaction in which the vehicle was involved, and her boyfriend, who had committed the offense from which the forfeiture action arose, was convicted of ‘simple possession’ and fined only $250. Id. at 1273 . Although the court agreed that the ‘actual convictions in a case are not disposi-tive for proportionality review purposes,’ it stated that ‘the relevant factors will vary from case to case.’ Id. at 1273-74 . The court in [One 1992 Isuzu Trooper ] ultimately concluded that the forfeiture of the claimant’s vehicle constituted an excessive fine. “Spears argues that the forfeiture of an item worth three times the possible fine for the offenses charged is an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment and the proportionality test. He makes much of the fact that, despite being charged with possession of marijuana in the first degree, the amount of marijuana in his possession was n”

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