Poss v. Lieberman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

19 federal appellate · 9 district · 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 54 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ * * * The removal is based on a federal interest in the matter, the facts underlying which may be stated in the removal petition it self, whether or not federal jurisdiction existed over the claim as stated in the complaint as originally served. Where a federal officer asserts a privilege for acts done under color of his office the defense is based upon a federal right, the purpose of which is to prevent federal employees from being unduly harassed by ‘vindictive or ill founded damage suits brought on account of action taken in the exercise of their official responsibilities.’ Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564 -565, 79 S.Ct. 1335, 1336 , 3 L.Ed.2d 1434 . Consequently, the federal government has a special interest in such matters which justifies the granting of removal jurisdiction to the federal courts in such cases. * * * ””

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Brown v. Coen · Vendetti v. Schuster

2. ““There has been some uncertainty among scholars as to the reach of absolute privilege to the lower echelons of administrative employees. Cf. Prosser on Torts, 2d ed. (1955), Sec. 95, p. 612. While the language of the recent cases indicates an unlimited reach to the privilege, it may be possible that a case involving such an administrative employee at a minor grade might lead to a reexamination of the language. Plainly, though, there is better reason to hold the privilege absolute when applied to reports required or permitted to be made within an agency in the normal functioning of the agency’s business, when these reports are required to be confidential as here and their disclosure would be a misdemeanor * * (Accent added.)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Leo George Backer v. Philco Corporation, James J. Taglia v. Philco Corporation · Becker v. Philco Corp.

3. ““ * * * It has been thought important that officials of government should be free to exercise their duties unembarrassed by the fear of damage suits in respect of acts done in the course of those duties — suits which would consume time and energies which would otherwise be devoted to governmental service and the threat of which might appreciably inhibit the fearless, vigorous, and effective administration of policies of government. The matter has been admirably expressed by Judge Learned Hand: “ ‘It does indeed go without saying that an official, who is in fact guilty of using his powers to vent his spleen upon others, or for any other personal motive not connected with the public good, should not escape liability for the injuries he may so cause; and, if it were possible in practice to confine such complaints to the guilty, it would be monstrous to deny recovery. The justification for doing so is that it is impossible to know whether the claim is well founded until the case has been tried, and that to submit all officials, the innocent as well as the guilty, to the burden of a trial and to the inevitable danger of its outcome would dampen the ardor of all but the most resolute, or the most irresponsible, in the unflinching discharge of their duties. Again and again the public interest calls for action which may turn out to be founded on a mistake, in the face of which an official may later find himself hard put to it to satisfy a jury of his good faith. There must indeed be ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 261 F. Supp. 570 - Heine v. Raus