Lambert v. Barrett’s Empirical Analysis
157 U.S. 697 · 1895
Citation profile
6 federal appellate · 1 district · 4 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 43 later decisions (22 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 1994 · most notably Evans v. Gore (1920), Fayerweather v. Ritch (1904)
6 federal appellate · 1 district · 4 state decisions
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 Kemmler · Hallinger v. Davis · Caldwell v. State of Texas · Converse · McNulty v. People of State of California
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 43 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The act in question, as you interpret it, diminishes' the ompensation of every judge three per cent, and if it can oe diminished to that extent by the name of a tax, it may in the same way be reduced from time to time at the pleasure of the legislature. “The Judiciary is one of the three great departments of the government, created and established by the Constitution. Its duties and powers are specifically set forth, and are of a character that requires'it to be perfectly independent of the two other departments, and in order to place it beyond the reach and above even the suspicion of any such influence, the power to reduce their compensation is expressly withheld from Congress, and excepted from their powers of legislation. “Language could not be more plain than that used in the Constitution.- It is moreover one of its most important and essential provisions. For the articles which limit the powers of the legislative and executive branches of the government, and those which provide safeguards for the protection of the citizen in his person and property, would be of little value without a judiciary to uphold and maintain them, which was free from every influence, direct or indirect, that might by possibility in times of political excitement warp their judgments. “Upon these grounds I regard an act of Congress retaining in the Treasury a portion of the compensation of the judges, as unconstitutional and void. ””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Evans v. Gore“the right of the Legislature to diminish in this or any other mode the compensation of the Judges when once fixed by law.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Gordy v. Dennis“to extend until the expiration of a time not exceeding ninety days after conviction;”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Lambert v. Barrett
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.