United States v. Belmont’s Empirical Analysis
301 U.S. 324 · 1937
Citation profile
221 federal appellate · 78 district · 84 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 675 later decisions (51 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2026 · most notably Hines v. Davidowitz (1941), Banco Nacional De Cuba v. Sabbatino (1964)
221 federal appellate · 78 district · 84 state decisions — followed in 10 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedUnited States v. Belmont (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. · Oetjen v. Central Leather Co. · Missouri v. Holland · Underhill v. Hernandez · Harris v. Balk
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 675 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[I]n respect of our foreign affairs generally, state lines disappear.”
13 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“`A treaty signifies "a compact made between two or more independent nations, with a view to the public welfare.”
7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the conduct of foreign relations was committed by the Constitution to the political departments of the government, and the propriety of what may be done in the exercise of this political power[is] not subject to judicial inquiry or decision”
4 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.