Townsend v. Yeomans’s Empirical Analysis
301 U.S. 441 · 1937
Citation profile
12 federal appellate · 6 district · 66 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 210 later decisions (54 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2013 · most notably Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. (1947), Central Hudson Gas Electric Corporation v. Public Service Commission of New York (1980)
12 federal appellate · 6 district · 66 state decisions — followed in 18 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 Nebbia v. People of State of New York · Munn v. Illinois · Simpson v. Shepard · Sproles v. Binford · Aaron Cooley v. The Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia to the Use of the Society for the Relief of Distressed Pilots Their Widows and Children Same
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 210 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““ * * * We find no ground for concluding that the state requirements lay any actual burden upon interstate or foreign commerce. The Georgia act does not attempt to fix the prices at the auction sales or to regulate the activities of the purchasers. The fixing of reasonable maximum charges for the services of the warehouse-men in aid of the tobacco growers does not militate against any interest of those who buy.” 301 U.S. page 455, 57 S.Ct. page 849, 81 L.Ed. 1210 . (Italics the Court’s.) “(quoting from Cargill Co. v. Minnesota, 180 U.S. 452, 470 , 21 S.Ct. 423 , 45 L.Ed. 619 ) ‘The statute puts no obstacle in the way of the purchase by the defendant company of grain in the state or the shipment out of the state of such grain as it purchased.’ ” 301 U.S. page 457, 57 S.Ct. page 850, 81 L. Ed. 1210 . “Here, the Georgia act lays no constraint upon purchases in interstate commerce, does not attempt to fix the prices or conditions of purchases, or the profit of the purchasers. It simply seeks to protect the tobacco growers from unreasonable charges of the warehousemen for their services to the growers.” 301 U.S. page 459, 57 S.Ct. page 850, 81 L.Ed. 1210 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Brown v. Parker“The case calls for the application of the well-established principle that Congress may circumscribe its regulation and occupy a limited field, and that the intent to supersede the exercise by the state of its police power as to matters not covered by the federal legislation is not to be implied unless the latter fairly interpreted is in actual conflict with the state law.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“the Legislature, acting within its sphere, is presumed to know the needs of the people of the state.”
1 later decision 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.