Choctaw Co v. Mackey’s Empirical Analysis
256 U.S. 531 · 1921
Citation profile
37 federal appellate · 9 district · 39 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 167 later decisions (48 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2011 · most notably Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones (1973), James v. Dravo Contracting Co. (1937)
37 federal appellate · 9 district · 39 state decisions — followed in 11 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
reviewedMackey v. Choctaw, O. & G. R. (from Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Townsend · Thomas v. Gay · Railroad Company v. Peniston · Louisville Nashville Railroad Company v. Barber Asphalt Paving Company · Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Attorney General of Commonwealth
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 167 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The mere fact that property is used, among others, by the United States as an instrument for effecting its purpose does not relieve it from state taxation. . . . And even though it be granted that the federal government utilized the railroad as an instrument in working out its policy toward the Indians, the tax upon the railroad property would be none the less valid.” (See citations.) (pp. 536, 537.)”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““The mere fact that property is used, among others, by the United States as an instrument for effecting its purpose does not relieve it from state taxation. * * * “And even though it be granted that the federal, government utilize the railroad as an instrument in working out its policy toward the Indians, the tax upon the railroad property would be none the less valid.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““If the validity of the assessment is established, it may be assumed that due payment will follow. At all events, we have no occasion to deal with the method and means to be pursued in enforcing it.””
1 later decision 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.