Russell v. Maxwell Land Grant Co.’s Empirical Analysis
158 U.S. 253 · 1895
Citation profile
17 federal appellate · 15 district · 41 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 95 later decisions (12 by the Supreme Court) — most recently November 2023 · most notably Borax Consolidated, Ltd. v. Los Angeles (1935), United States v. State Investment Co. (1924)
17 federal appellate · 15 district · 41 state decisions — followed in 12 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 Cragin v. Powell · Maxwell Land-Grant Case · Beard v. Federy · Langdeau v. Hanes · United States v. Maxwell Land-Grant 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 95 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“As the last act in the series of proceedings, a patent is to issue to the claimant. ■ This instrument is not only the deed of the United States, but it is a solemn record by the Government of its action and judgment with respect to the title of the claimant existing at the date of the cession. By it the sovereign power, which alone could determine the matter, declares that the previous grant was genuine; that the claim under it was valid and entitled to recognition and confirmation by the law of nations and the stipulations of the treaty; and that the grant was located, or might have been located, by the former Government, and is correctly located by the new Government, so as to embrace the premises as they are surveyed and described. Whilst this declaration remains of record, the Government itself cannot question its verity, nor can .parties claiming through the Government by title subsequent.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. De Guyer v. Banning““That the power to make and correct surveys of the public lands belongs to the political department of the government and that, whilst the lands are subject to the supervision of the general land office, the decisions of that bureau in all such cases, like that of other special tribunals upon matters within their exclusive jurisdiction, are unassailable by the courts, except by a direct proceeding; and that the latter have no concurrent or original power to make similar corrections, if not an elementary principle of our land law is settled by such a mass of decisions of this court that its mere statement is sufficient.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Gauthier v. Morrison“the tract of land embraced and described in the foregoing survey,”
1 later decision 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.