McMullen v. Hoffman’s Empirical Analysis
174 U.S. 639 · 1899
Citation profile
151 federal appellate · 46 district · 252 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 600 later decisions (39 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2024 · most notably United Paperworkers International Union v. Misco, Inc. (1987), Olmstead v. United States (1928)
151 federal appellate · 46 district · 252 state decisions — followed in 39 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedthe decision below (from Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Trist v. Child · Alexander Marshall v. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company · Brooks v. Martin · Armstrong v. Toler
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 600 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The authorities from the earliest time to the present unanimously hold that no court will lend its assistance in any way towards carrying out the terms of an illegal contract. In case any action is brought which it is necessary to prove the illegal contract in order to maintain the action, courts will not enforce it, nor will they enforce any alleged rights directly springing from such contract.”
27 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“It has been often stated in similar cases that the defense is a very dishonest one, and it lies ill in the mouth of the defendant to allege it, and it is only allowed for public considerations, and in order the better to secure the public against dishonest transactions.”
16 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““But in this case there is more even than concealment. There is the active fraud in the putting in of these, in substance, fictitious bids, in their different names, but in truth forming no competitive bids, and put in for the purpose already stated. * * * The making of fictitious bids under the circumstances detailed herein is in its essence an illegal and most improper act; indeed, it is a plain fraud, perpetrated in the effort to obtain the desired result.” Page 652 of 174 U. S., page 844 of 19 Sup. Ct. ( 43 L. Ed. 1117 ).”
9 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.