White v. United States’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

176 federal appellate · 61 district · 61 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 391 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The certificate of insurance provided in terms that it should be ‘subject in all respects to the provisions of such act (of 1917 [ 40 Stat. 398 ]), of any amendments thereto, and of all regulations thereunder, now in force or hereafter adopted, all of which, together with the application for this insurance, and the terms and conditions published under authority of the act, shall constitute the contract.’ These words must be taken to embrace changes in the law no less than changes in the “regulations. The form was established by the Director with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury and on the authority of article 1, § 1 [Comp. St. § 514a]-, and article 4, § 402 [Comp. St. § 514uuu], of the act, which, we have no doubt, authorized it. The language is very broad and does not need precise discussion when the nature of the plan is remembered. The insurance was a contract, to be sure, for which a premium was paid, but it was not one entered into by the United States for gain. All soldiers were given a right to it and the relation of the government to them if not paternal was at least avuncular. It was a relation of benevolence established by the government at considerable cost to itself for the soldier’s good. It was a new experiment in which changes might be found necessary, or at least, as in this case, feasible more exactly to carry out his will. If the soldier was willing to put himself into the government’s hands to that extent no one else could complain. The only r”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Sterling · Jackson v. United States

2. ““If no person within the permitted class be designated as beneficiary * * * by the insured * * * or if the designated beneficiary * * * dies prior to receiving all of the two hundred and forty installments * * * there shall be paid to the estate of the insured the present value of the monthly installments thereafter payable, said value to be computed as of date of last payment made under any existing award: Provided, That all awards * * * which were in course of payment on the date of the approval of this Act (March 4, 1925), shall continue until the death of the person receiving such payments, * * *. When any person to whom such insurance was awarded prior to such date dies * * * there shall be paid to the estate of the insured the present value of the remaining unpaid monthly installments of the insurance so awarded to such person: * * * This section shall be deemed to be in effect as of October 6,1917.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Day v. Bradshaw

3. ““These words must be taken to embrace changes in the law no less than changes in the regulations. The form was established by the Director with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury and on the authority of article 1, § 1 [Comp. St. § 514a], and article 4, § 402, of the act [Comp. St. § 514uuu], which, we have no doubt, authorized it. The language is very broad and does not need precise discussion when the nature of the plan is remembered.””

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