Boyd v. Alabama’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 6 district · 69 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 132 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is true that in a former case against the same defendant upon an indictment of a similar kind, for a previous offense of setting up and carrying on a lottery, the Supreme Court of the state held that the statute in Question constituted a contract, and that the repealing act was for that reason void. But in that ease the only subject before the court was the meaning of the statute — -whether its provisions in their terms amounted to a contract which a subsequent enactment could not impair. The constitutionality of the act was not drawn in question. That was not denied. Courts seldom undertake in any case to pass upon the validity of legislation where the question is not made by the parties. Their habit is to meet questions of that kind when they are raised, but not to anticipate them. Until then they will construe the acts presented for consideration, define their meaning, and enforce their provisions. The facts that acts may in this way have been often before the court is never deemed a reason for not subsequently considering their validity when that question is presented. Previous adjudications upon other points do not operate as an estoppel against the parties in new cases, nor conclude the court upon the constitutionality of the act, because that point might have been raised and determined in the first instance.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Knight v. Shelton