United States v. Phelps’s Empirical Analysis
17 F.3d 1334 · 1994
Citation profile
57 federal appellate · 9 district · 1 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 77 later decisions — most recently January 2021 · most notably United States v. Williamson (1995), United States v. Castillo (1998)
57 federal appellate · 9 district · 1 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
Applies 18 U.S.C. § 921 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act) · 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act) · 18 U.S.C. § 924 · 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (§ 201 of the Gun Control Act of 1968) · 28 U.S.C. § 1291
Relies on Taylor v. United States · City of Cleburne Texas v. Cleburne Living Center · San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · McGowan v. State of Maryland Gallagher · Carnegie v. United States
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 77 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“without factual support in the record, or if after reviewing all the evidence we are left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“that the statute is irrational or arbitrary and that it cannot conceivably further a legitimate governmental interest.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“In a prison setting, the possession by an inmate of a deadly weapon indeed presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another. The felon who unlawfully possesses a firearm, although disobeying the law, may have a legitimate use intended for the firearm, such as target shooting or collecting. By contrast, we fail to discover a similarly “innocent” purpose behind the possession of a deadly weapon by a prison inmate. The confines of prison preclude any recreational uses for a deadly weapon and render its possession a serious threat to the safety of others. By its nature, therefore, the possession of a deadly weapon by a prison inmate presents “a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.””
2 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.