Kansas City Southern Ry Co v.’s Empirical Analysis
256 U.S. 658 · 1921
Citation profile
61 federal appellate · 13 district · 46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 179 later decisions (19 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2011 · most notably State Board of Tax Com'rs of Indiana v. Jackson (1931), Nashville St Ry v. Walters (1935)
61 federal appellate · 13 district · 46 state decisions — followed in 15 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.
Relationships
Relies on Royster Guano Co v. Commonwealth of Virginia · French v. Barber Asphalt Paving Co. · Houck v. Little River Drainage District · Louisville Nashville Railroad Company v. Barber Asphalt Paving Company · Gast Realty Investment Company v. Schneider Granite Company
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 179 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Obviously, the railroad companies have not been treated like individual owners, and we think the discrimination so palpable and arbitrary as to amount to a denial of the equal protection of the law. Benefits from local improvements must be estimated upon contiguous property according to some standard which will probably produce approximately correct general results. * * * Classification, of course, is permissible, but we can find no adequate reason for what has been attempted in the present case. * * * It is doubtful whether any veiy substantial appreciation in value of the railroad property within the district will result from the improvements; and very clearly it cannot be taxed upon some fanciful view of future earnings and distributed values, while all other properly is assessed solely according to- area and position. Railroad property may not be burdened for local improvements upon a basis so wholly different from that used for ascertaining the contribution demanded of individual owners as necessarily to produce manifest inequality. Equal protection of the law must be extended to all.””
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“of such a character that there is no reasonable presumption that substantial justice generally will be done, but the probability is that the parties will be taxed disproportionately to each other and to the benefit conferred,' so that such legislative action is 'palpably arbitrary or a plain abuse.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“ordinarily the levy may be upon lands specially benefited according to value, position, area, or the front foot rule.”
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.