Dent v. State of West Virginia’s Empirical Analysis
129 U.S. 114 · 1889
Citation profile
155 federal appellate · 128 district · 558 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 1,320 later decisions (137 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2026 · most notably Mathews v. Eldridge (1976), Wolff v. McDonnell (1974)
155 federal appellate · 128 district · 558 state decisions — followed in 47 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 Yick Wo v. Hopkins · Pennoyer v. Neff · Hurtado v. People of the State of California · Ex parte Garland
Cited together with Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners of NM · Wolff v. McDonnell · Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · Hawker v. People of New York · Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth
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 1,320 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It is undoubtedly the right of every citizen of the United States to follow any lawful calling, business, or profession he may choose, subject only to such restrictions as are imposed upon all persons of like age, sex and condition.”
41 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“it be general in its operation upon the subjects to which it relates”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,”
4 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.