Smith v. District of Columbia’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

56 federal appellate · 7 district · 21 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 88 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “* * * if snow or ice has been permitted to remain untreated on a sidewalk or crosswalk and has been formed into humps or ridges or other shapes of such size and location as to constitute a danger aggravated over its original mere slipperiness and unusual in comparison with general conditions naturally prevalent throughout the city, and if such condition has remained for a period of time sufficient to give rise to a constructive notice to the municipal authorities and an opportunity for them to remedy it, the municipality is liable for injuries of which the dangerous condition is the proximate cause.” J”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Smith v. United States · District of Columbia v. Smith

2. ““ * * * absent a defect in the street itself, it cannot be held liable for injuries due to the mere slipperiness of snow or ice in its natural state, because it cannot cure such slipperiness on every bit of sidewalk and street in a large city.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Smith v. United States · Hallett v. Furr's, Inc.

3. ““The general rule, where liability for defects is held to exist, is that the city must exercise reasonable care to keep the streets in a reasonably safe condition. And that is the rule in the District of Columbia.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. District of Columbia v. Pauline Nordstrom, Sinclair Refining Company v. Pauline Nordstrom · District of Columbia v. Nordstrom