Wilson’s Empirical Analysis
114 U.S. 417 · 1885
Citation profile
210 federal appellate · 84 district · 177 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 715 later decisions (121 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2024 · most notably Bell v. Wolfish (1979), Fay v. Noia (1963)
210 federal appellate · 84 district · 177 state decisions — followed in 41 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Hurtado v. People of the State of California · Ex parte Lange · 'The Ku-Klux Cases' Yarbrough · Ex parte Siebold
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 715 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“crimes infamous in their nature, independently of the punishment affixed to them.”
31 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Andrews v. Hovey · In re Mills“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger....”
14 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Kurtz v. Moffitt · Andrews v. Hovey““Deciding nothing beyond what is required by the facts of the case before us, our judgment is that a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of years at hard labor is an infamous crime, within the meaning of the fifth amendment of the constitution; and that the district court, in holding the petitioner to answer for such a crime, and sentencing him to such imprisonment, without indictment or presentment by a grand jury, exceeded its jurisdiction, and he is therefore entitled! to be discharged.” (Emphasis supplied.)”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.