Boyd v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
116 U.S. 616 · 1886
Citation profile
2,041 federal appellate · 657 district · 2,354 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 7,022 later decisions (678 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera (1966), Terry v. Ohio (1968)
2,041 federal appellate · 657 district · 2,354 state decisions — followed in 50 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
Cited together with Weeks v. United States · Carroll v. United States · Gouled v. United States · Katz v. United States · Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States
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 7,022 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It may be that it is the obnoxious thing in its mildest and least repulsive form; but illegitimate and unconstitutional practices get their first footing in that way, namely, by silent approaches and slight deviations from legal modes of procedure. This can only be obviated by adhering to the rule that constitutional provisions for the security of person and property should be liberally construed. A close and literal construction deprives them of half their efficacy, and leads to gradual depreciation of the right, as if it consisted more in sound than in substance. It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon.”
333 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
77 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”
43 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.