Southern Pac Co v. State of California’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 1 district · 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Applying these rules, which must now be considered as settled, to the present case, it is apparent that the court below erred in deciding that the suit was not removable, for it distinctly appears that the right of the state to recover was made by the pleadings (to depend (1) on the power of the slate to tax the franchises of the corporation derived from the acts of congress, which were specially referred to, as well as the property used in connection therewith; and (2) on the effect of article 14 of the amendment of the constitution on the validity of the statutes under which the taxes sued for were levied. The first depended on the construction of the acts of congress, and the second on the construction of the constitutional amendment. If decided in one way, the state might recover; if in another, it would be defeated, at least in part. The right of removal does not depend upon the validity of the claim set up under the constitution or laws. It is enough if the claim involves a real and substantial dispute or controversy in the suit. In this case there can .be no doubt about that.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nashville, C. & St. L. Ry. v. Taylor · Attorney General v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co.