Cox v. Hart’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

120 federal appellate · 52 district · 222 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 518 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A statute is not made retroactive merely because it draws upon antecedent facts for its operation.”

   14 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Savorgnan v. United States · Landgraf v. USI Film Products

2. “The office of a proviso is well understood. It is to except something from the operative effect, or to qualify or restrain the generality, of the substantive enactment to which it is attached.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Sowers Plan Crop Insurance Mutual Co. v. Hobbs · American Airlines, Inc. v. Civil Aeronautics Board

3. “A survey of public lands does not ascertain boundaries; it creates them.... [The running of lines in the field and the laying out and platting of townships, sections and legal subdivisions are not alone sufficient to constitute a survey. Until all conditions as to filing in the proper land office and all requirements as to approval have been complied with, the lands are to be regarded as unsurveyed and not subject to disposal as surveyed lands.... In other words, to justify the application of the term 'surveyed' to a body of public land something is required beyond the completion of the field work and the consequent laying out of the boundaries, and that something is the filing of the plat and the approval of the work of the surveyor.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Luker v. Sykes