Patterson v. R.T.’s Empirical Analysis
1990
Citation profile
16 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently September 2016
16 state decisions
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
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 455 · 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on In the Matters of Lee Roy Murchison and John Whites · Bolden v. State · Farley v. Jester · Burrows v. City of Forrest
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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Of course, a judge trying a case without a jury may develop “bias” as the trial progresses, and that “bias” ultimately may result in the court’s judgment. It is, however, the communication of that bias at inappropriate times and in inappropriate ways that will cause us to reverse. That is what has happened in this case. While we suggest no knowing violation or intentional misconduct on the part of the chancellor, we reverse this decision because it was so tainted by the appearance of prejudgment.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[ Cjourt proceedings must not only be fair and impartial— they must appear to be fair and impartial. This factor is mentioned in a Comment found in 71 Michigan Law Review 538, entitled, “Disqualification of Interest of Lower Federal Court Judges: 28 U.S.C. § 455”, as follows: Another factor to be considered in a judge’s decision to disqualify is the contention that the appearance of impartiality is as important, if not more so, than actual impartiality. In 1952, Justice Frankfurter explained his disqualification in a case by stating that ‘justice should reasonably appear to be disinterested as well as be so in fact.’ The Supreme Court gave support to this view in the due process context when in Murchison Justice Black wrote for the Court: (T)o perform its high function in the best way ‘justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.’ More recently the Court set aside an arbitration award and stated that ‘(a)ny tribunal permitted by law to try cases and controversies not only must be unbiased but also must avoid even the appearance of bias.’”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Schwede v. State
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.