McFadden v. McFadden’s Empirical Analysis
1921
Citation profile
66 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 66 later decisions — most recently June 2004 · most notably Porter v. Porter (1948), Ward v. Ward (1960)
66 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
Relies on Gould v. Austin · Landry v. Seattle Port Angeles & Western Railway Co.
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 66 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Moreover, we think, in conformity with the rule in at least one jurisdiction, that where there is conflict between the entry made by the clerk in the minutes and the solemn judgment of the court, the terms, of the latter should be given force and effect, rather than of the former.” (Citing cases.)”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage““Naturally, the claims of the father and mother to the custody of their offspring are equal when shorn of every other consideration than parenthood, and as long as the marriage status is maintained the law recognizes these natural claims. When, however, the heads of the family disagree and apply to the courts for a dissolution of the marriage relation, and it is no longer possible for the child to have their joint aid, comfort and support, but that of only one of them, the courts invariably should choose the one most suitably fitted to assume and properly discharge the parental care that the child’s age, sex, health, training, and education demand. The latter’s welfare then becomes the paramount consideration.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage““The statute does not require the court to .favor the party succeeding in the divorce suit, but leaves the whole matter open to inquiry and investigation, and gives the court a freedom controlled only by the court’s sense of ‘justice and right,’ after familiarizing himself with the parties’ respective contributions in labor and capital, and their immediate and prospective needs and burdens and deserts. . . . ””
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Laughlin v. Laughlin
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.