White v. Roach’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is contended that the statute applies with equal force to the claimant’s issue in attachment suits, and under like conditions, the same result will follow. Such a construction, however, is without foundation in reason. Section 163 provides that the claimant’s issue shall not be tried until after final judgment in favor of the plaintiff in attachment. Then why make up the issue in the first term of court? It may never be tried; for, if the plaintiff fails either on the attachment or debt issue, that is the end of the matter. Why require the claimant to attend court with his witnesses from term to term, when the trial of the issue depends entirely on the result of the main suit? Statutes must be given a reasonable construction, unless in so doing their plain provisions are violated. Our judgment is that the word ‘trial,’ in the last clause of section 163 is used in its comprehensive sense, and means, not alone that the claimant’s issue shall not be tried until final judgment in the main case, but that such issue is not to be made up until then; the making up of the issue being a part of the ‘trial’ in the broad meaning of the word. The claimant, at his peril, must watch the progress of the main case, and when final judgment is rendered be ready to join issue on plaintiff’s tender, which may not be made until then, so the trial of it may proceed.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Piqua Sav. Bank v. Copiah Hardware Co.