Johnson Graham's v. William M'Intosh’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

49 federal appellate · 52 district · 54 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 294 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[D]iscovery gave title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority, it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession.”

   21 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Buttz v. Northern Pacific Railroad · County of Oneida New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York State New York

2. “[i]f the discovery be made, and possession of the country be taken, under the authority of an existing government, which is acknowledged by the emigrants, it is supposed to be equally well settled, that the discovery is made for the whole nation, that the country becomes a part of the nation, and that the vacant soil is to be disposed of by that organ of the government which has the constitutional power to dispose of the national domains, by that organ in which all vacant territory is vested by law.”

   6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Parr v. United States · Pueblo of Jemez v. United States

3. “... Thus, all the nations of Europe, who have acquired territory on this continent, have asserted in themselves, and have recognised in others, the exclusive right of the discoverer to appropriate the lands occupied by the Indians. Have the American states rejected or adopted this principle?”

   6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Swain County · 63 Wash. 2d 421 - State v. McCoy