Musengo v. White’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 23 district ·

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

1. “In practice, however, the question whether a particular action is arbitrary or capricious must turn on the extent to which the relevant statute, or other source of law, constrains agency action. While the broad grant of discretion implicated here does not entirely foreclose review of the Secretary’s action, the way in which the statute frames the issue for review does substantially restrict the authority of the reviewing court to upset the Secretary’s determination. It is simply more difficult to say that the Secretary has acted arbitrarily if he is authorized to act “when he considers it necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice,” 10 U.S.C. § 1552 (a) (emphasis added), than it is if he is required to act whenever a court determines that certain objective conditions are met, i.e., that there has been an error or injustice.”

   7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Thompson v. United States · 774 F. Supp. 2d 173 - Pettiford v. Secretary of the Navy

2. “Although judicial review is available under the APA to review correction-board decisions, courts apply an “unusually deferential application of the arbitrary or capricious standard of the APA” to ensure that “the courts do not become a forum for appeals by every soldier dissatisfied with his or her ratings [and thereby] destabilize military command and take the judiciary far afield of its area of competence.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Huffman v. Johnson · Mueller v. Winter

3. “understanding that raters may attempt to retract otherwise accurate assessments when requested to do so by their disappointed officers.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Mueller v. Winter