Robertson v. Sichel’s Empirical Analysis
127 U.S. 507 · 1888
Citation profile
51 federal appellate · 37 district · 76 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 216 later decisions (11 by the Supreme Court) — most recently October 2020 · most notably Ashcroft v. Iqbal (2009), Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp. (1949)
51 federal appellate · 37 district · 76 state decisions — followed in 23 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 United States v. Kirkpatrick · Whiteside v. United States · Gibbons v. United States · Moffat 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 216 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Sec. 789. It is well settled as a general rule that public officers of the government, in the performance of their public functions, are not liable to third persons, either for the misfeasances or positive wrongs, or for the nonfeasances, negligences or omissions of duty of their official subordinates. “This immunity rests upon obvious considerations of public policy, the necessities of the public service and the perplexities and embarrassments of a contrary doctrine. “These official subordinates are themselves public officers, though of an inferior grade, and are directly liable, in those cases in which any such public officer is liable, for their own defaults. They are not infrequently appointed directly by the governmental power, and are removable only at its pleasure, but even in those eases in which they are appointed and removed by their immediate official superior, the latter is not liable. “Sec. 790. But this general rule is subject to certain exceptions important to be borne in mind and as well settled as tlie rule itself. Thus the superior officer will be liable (1) where, being charged with the duty of employing or retaining his subordinates, he negligently or willfully retains unfit or improper persons; or (2) where being charged with the duty to see that they are appointed, or qualified in a proper manner, he negligently or willfully fails to require of them the due conformity to the prescribed regulations; or (3) where he so carelessly or negligently oversees, ”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““* * * The government itself is not responsible for the misfeasances, or wrongs, or negligences, or omissions of duty ,of the subordinate officers or agents employed in the public service; for it does not undertake to guarantee to any person the fidelity of any of the officers or agents whom it employs; since that would involve it, in all its operations, in endless embarrassments, and difficulties, and losses, which would be subversive of the public interests. Story on Agency, sec. 319; Seymour v. Van Slyck, 8 Wend. [N. Y.] 403, 422; United States v. Kirkpatrick, 9 Wheat. 720, 735 [ 6 L. Ed. 199 ]; Gibbons v. United States, 8 Wall. 269 [ 19 L. Ed. 453 ]; Whiteside v. United States, 93 U. S. 247, 257 [ 23 L. Ed. 882 ]; Hart v. United States, 95 U. S. 316, 318 [ 24 L. Ed. 479 ]; Moffat v. United States, 112 U. S. 24, 31 , 5 S. Ct. 10 [ 28 L. Ed. 623 ]; Schmalz’s Case, 4 Ct. Cl. 142 .” “The government does not guarantee the integrity of its officers nor the validity of their acts. * * * * They are but servants of the law and, if they depart from its requirements, the government is not bound.” Moffat v. United States, 112 U. S. 24, 31 , 5 S. Ct. 10, 13 , 28 L. Ed. 623, 625 .”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“"To permit a recovery [against members of school district boards] . . . would be to establish a principle which would paralyze the public service. Competent persons could not be found to fill positions of the kind, if they knew they would be held liable for all the torts and wrongs committed by a large body of subordinates." Robertson v. Sichel, 127 U.S. 507, 515 , 8 S.Ct. 1286, 1290 , 32 L. Ed. 203 (1888).”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.