Coughlin v. Ryder’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““When a public official is unlawfully removed from office, whether from disregard of the law by his superior or from mistake as to the facts of his case, obvious considerations of public policy make it of first importance that he should promptly take the action requisite to effectively assert his rights, to the end that if his contention be justified the Government service may be disturbed as little as possible and that two salaries shall not be paid for a single service. Under circumstances which rendered his return to the service impossible, except under the order of a court, the relator did nothing to effectively assert his claim for reinstatement to office for almost two years. Such a long delay must necessarily result in changes in the branch of the service to which he was attached and in such an accumulation of unearned salary that, when unexplained, the manifest inequity which would result from reinstating him renders the application of the doctrine of laches to his case peculiarly appropriate in the interests of justice and sound public policy.” Accord, Nicholas v. United States, 257 U.S. 71 , 42 S.Ct. 7 , 66 L.Ed. 133 (1921); Norris v. United States, 257 U.S. 77, 80-81 , 42 S.Ct. 9 , 66 L.Ed. 136 (1921); Drown v. Higley, 100 U.S.App.D.C. 326 , 244 F.2d 774 (1957) (per curiam); Coughlin v. Ryder, 260 F.Supp. 256, 259-60 (E.D.Pa. 1966).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Miller v. United States