Smith-Helstrom v. Yonker’s Empirical Analysis
1996
Citation profile
51 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 51 later decisions — most recently December 2019 · most notably State on Behalf of Hopkins v. Batt (1998), Rauch v. Rauch (1999)
51 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 28 U.S.C. § 1738A
Relies on Thompson v. Thompson · 32 Cal. 3d 689 - Kumar v. Superior Court · Ritter v. Ritter · State Ex Rel. Grape v. Zach · State Ex Rel. Reitz v. Ringer
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 51 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(a) The relationship of the minor child to each parent prior to the commencement of the action or any subsequent hearing; (b) The desires and wishes of the minor child if of an age of comprehension regardless of chronological age, when such desires and wishes are based on sound reasoning; (c) The general health, welfare, and social behavior of the minor child; and (d) Credible evidence of abuse inflicted on any family or household member.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“An appellate court reviews child custody determinations de novo on the record. Such determinations are initially entrusted to the discretion of the trial judge and will be affirmed unless they constitute an abuse of discretion. Where credible evidence is in conflict on a material issue of fact, an appellate court considers, and may give weight to, the fact that the trial judge heard and observed the witnesses and accepted one version of the facts rather than another.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“The violation of a court decree [prohibiting cohabitation] is unquestionably a serious matter. But it is the best interests of the son which must be our paramount concern. While it is true that evidence concerning the moral fitness of the parents, including sexual conduct, can be considered as a factor in determining a child’s best interests . . . absent a showing that the mother’s cohabitation adversely affected her son, we do not give this factor much weight.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.