Carter v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 26 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 28 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), a person in custody under a sentence of a court of this state must 'petition for post-conviction relief under this part within one (1) year of the date of the final action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal is taken or, if no appeal is taken, unthin one (1) year of the date on which the judgment became final, or consideration of such petition shall be barred. The statute of limitations shall not be tolled for any reason, including any tolling or saving provision otherwise available at law or equity. Time is of the essence of the right to file a petition for post-conviction relief or motion to reopen established by this chapter, and the one-year limitations period is an element of the right to file such an action and is a condition upon its exercise. Except as specifically provided in subsections (b) and (c), the right to file a petition for post-conviction relief or a motion to reopen under this chapter shall be extinguished upon the expiration of the limitations period.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Williams v. State · John Paul Seals v. State of Tennessee

2. ““[T]he most basic principle of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute’s coverage beyond its intended scope.” Worley v. Weigels, Inc., 919 S.W.2d 589, 593 (Tenn.1996) (quoting Owens v. State, 908 S.W.2d 923, 926 (Tenn.1995)); State v. Sliger, 846 S.W.2d 262, 263 (Tenn.1993). Legislative intent and purpose is to be ascertained primarily from the natural and ordinary meaning of the language used, without a forced or subtle construction that would limit or extend the meaning of the language. Tuggle v. Allright Parking Sys., Inc., 922 S.W.2d 105, 107 (Tenn.1996); National Gas Distrib., Inc. v. State, 804 S.W.2d 66 (Tenn.1991). When the language is ambiguous and does not yield a clear interpretation, the court may consult the legislative history for additional interpretive guidance. Storey v. Bradford Furniture Co., 910 S.W.2d 857, 859 (Tenn.1995); see also Carr v. Ford, 833 S.W.2d 68, 69-70 (Tenn.1992). We find the language of the enabling provision ambiguous. The meaning of the phrase “any person having a ground for relief recognized under this act” is uncertain. The interpretation proffered by the petitioner is that the phrase means any person alleging a constitutional defect in the conviction or sentence, regardless of whether the claim would have been barred under the previous statute of limitations. As the State points out, however, the phrase is just as susceptible of being interprete”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Saturn Corp. v. Johnson

3. “any person having a ground for relief recognized under this act shall have at least one (1) year from the effective date of this act to file a petition” permitted the filing of new petitions by persons for whom the previous three-year statute of limitations had already expired. Id. at 420 . The Carter court concluded that the one-year window was intended only to protect the rights of the”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hutchison v. Bell