Educational Films Corporation of America v. Ward’s Empirical Analysis
282 U.S. 379 · 1931
Citation profile
41 federal appellate · 9 district · 157 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 353 later decisions (80 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2023 · most notably Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co. (1937), Rosewell v. National Bank (1981)
41 federal appellate · 9 district · 157 state decisions — followed in 30 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 M'Culloch v. State of Maryland · Flint v. Stone Tracy Co. · Metcalf & Eddy v. Mitchell · Shaffer v. Carter · South Carolina v. United States
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 353 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[W]e cannot say that the rule applied by this court for some seventy years, that a nondiscriminatory tax upon corporate franchises is valid, notwithstanding the inclusion of tax exempt property or income in the measure of it, has failed of its purpose, or has worked so badly as to require a departure from it now; or that the present tax, viewed in the light of actualities, imposes any such real or direct burden on the federal government as to call for the application of a different rule. [ 282 U.S. at 392 , 51 S.Ct. at 173 .]”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Since it can be levied only when the corporation both seeks or exercises the privilege of doing business in one year and has been in receipt of net income during its preceding fiscal year, the tax, whatever descriptive terms are properly applicable to it, obviously is not exclusively on income apart from the franchise.” 282 U.S. at 388 .”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““This court, in drawing the line' which defines the limits of the powers and immunities of state and national governments, is not intent upon a mechanical application of the rule that government instrumentalities are immune from taxation, regardless of the consequences to the operations of government.” (p. 391.)”
3 later decisions 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.