Rasmussen by Mitchell v. Fleming’s Empirical Analysis
1987
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 2 district · 105 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 114 later decisions (4 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2026 · most notably Cruzan Ex Rel. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990), Vacco v. Quill (1997)
2 federal appellate · 2 district · 105 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 Roe v. Wade · Paul v. Davis · Griswold v. State of Connecticut · National Association for Advancement of Colored People v. State of Alabama Patterson · Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co.
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 114 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Other jurisdictions have unanimously concluded that the right to refuse medical treatment is not lost merely because the individual has become incompetent and has failed to preserve that right.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“Not long ago the realms of life and death were delineated by a bright line. Now this line is blurred by wondrous advances in medical technology — advances that until recent years were only ideas conceivable by such science-fiction visionaries as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Medical technology has effectively created a twilight zone of suspended animation where death commences while life, in some form, continues. Some patients, however, want no part of a life sustained only by medical technology. Instead, they prefer a plan of medical treatment that allows nature to take its course and permits them to die with dignity. As more individuals assert their right to refuse medical treatment, more frequently do the disciplines of medicine, law, philosophy, technology, and religion collide. This interdisciplinary interplay raises many questions to which no single person or profession has all the answers.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“"If the court is requested to resolve disputes among interested parties, particularly disputes questioning the `substituted judgment' or the `best interests' of the incompetent patient, then evidence necessary to resolve the dispute must be `clear and convincing.' Although the typical evidentiary standard in civil cases is `by a preponderance of the evidence,' we have recognized the need for a higher standard in exceptional civil matters. We deal here with matters that in at least some instances raise life-or-death issues and in all instances involve personal interests more important than those found in the typical civil dispute where private litigants squabble over a sum of money. We hold that court-resolved disputes in cases of this nature must be resolved by clear and convincing evidence."”
2 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.