Thomas v. Thomas’s Empirical Analysis
1963
Citation profile
54 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 54 later decisions — most recently October 2011 · most notably Pulliam v. Smith (1998), Blackley v. Blackley (1974)
54 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 Griffin v. Griffin · Neighbors v. Neighbors · Hardee v. Mitchell · Blankenship v. Blankenship · Kovacs v. Brewer
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 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““. . . the welfare of the child at the time the contest comes on for hearing is the controlling consideration. ... It may be well to observe . . . that the law is realistic and takes cognizance of the ever changing conditions of fortune and society. While a decree making a judicial award of the custody of a child determines the present rights of the parties to the contest, it is not permanent in its nature, and may be modified by the court in the future as subsequent events and the welfare of the child may require. . . .””
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Shepherd v. Shepherd““The welfare of the child in controversies involving custody is the polar star by which the courts must be guided in awarding custody.” “In a custody modification action, even one involving a parent, the existing child custody order cannot be modified [unless] . . . the party seeking a modification [first shows] that there has been a substantial change in circumstances affecting the welfare of the child].]” 2”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“We cannot forecast the future, but if there should be a change of circumstances adversely affecting the welfare of these children, the court is empowered to act....”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Pulliam v. Smith
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.