Belknap v. Schild’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

154 federal appellate · 71 district · 52 state decisions

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 474 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ * '* * Cannot be subjected to legal proceedings, at law or in equity, without their consent; and whoever institutes such proceedings must bring his case within the authority of some act of congress.” Belknap v. Schild, 161 U.S. 10 , 16 S.Ct. 443, 445 , 40 L.Ed. 599 .”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Buckley v. United States · The Coldwater

2. “‘•In the present rase, the caisson gate was a part of the dry dock in a navy-yard of the United States, was constructed and put in place by the United States, and was the properly of the United States, and held and used by the United States for the public benefit. If the gate was made in infringement of tho plaintiff’s patent, that did not prevent the title In the gate from vesting-in the United States. The United States, then, had both the title and the pair session of the property. The United States could not hold or use It, except through officers and agents. Although this suit was not brought against the United States by name, but against their officers and agents only, nevertheless,, so far as the bill prayed for an injunction, and for the destruction of the gate-in question, the defendants had no individual interest in the controversy; the entire interest adverse to the plaintiff was the interest of the United States in property of which the United States had both the title and the possession; the United States were the only real party, against whom alone in fact the-relief was asked, and against whom the decree would effectively operate; the plaintiff sought to control the defendants in their official capacity, and in the exercise of their official functions, as representatives and agents of the-United States, and thereby to defeat the use by the United States of property-owned and used by the United States for the common defense and general welfare, and therefore the ”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Howell v. Miller · Gouge v. Hart

3. ““The exemption, of the United States from judicial process does not protect their officers and agents, civil or military, in time of peace, from being personally liable to an action of tort by a private person, whose rights or property they have wrongfully invaded or injured, even by authority of the United States. Such officers or agents, though acting under order of the United States, are therefore personally liable to be sued for any infringement of a patent.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Elgin Nat. Watch Co. v. Loveland · Grimmett v. Digby