McPherson v. Blacker’s Empirical Analysis
146 U.S. 1 · 1892
Citation profile
84 federal appellate · 37 district · 127 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 500 later decisions (126 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2024 · most notably Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. (1970), Baker v. Carr (1962)
84 federal appellate · 37 district · 127 state decisions — followed in 31 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. Cruikshank · Slaughter-House Cases the Butchers' Benevolent Association of New Orleans v. The Crescent City Live · Barbier v. Connolly · Kemmler · United States v. Reese
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 500 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress * * *." (emphasis added)”
14 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“"The framers of the constitution employed words in their natural sense; and, where they are plain and clear, resort to collateral aids to interpretation is unnecessary, and cannot be indulged in to narrow or enlarge the text; but where there is ambiguity or doubt, or where two views may well be entertained, contemporaneous and subsequent practical construction is entitled to the greatest weight. Certainly, plaintiffs in error cannot reasonably assert that the clause of the Constitution under consideration so plainly sustains their position as to entitle them to object that contemporaneous history and practical construction are not to be allowed their legitimate force, and, conceding that their argument inspires a doubt sufficient to justify resort to the aids of interpretation thus afforded, we are of opinion that such doubt is thereby resolved against them, the contemporaneous practical exposition of the constitution being too strong and obstinate to be shaken or controlled. Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299 , 309 [ 2 L.Ed. 115 ]." 146 U.S. at 27 , 13 S.Ct. at 7 .”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Each State shall appoint [its Electors], in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct....” U.S. Const, art. II, § 1, cl. 2 (emphasis supplied). As Chief Justice Fuller observed a century ago,”
5 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.