United States v. Carolene Products Co.’s Empirical Analysis
304 U.S. 144 · 1938
Citation profile
763 federal appellate · 279 district · 869 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,103 later decisions (286 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2025 · most notably City of Cleburne Texas v. Cleburne Living Center (1985), Hudson v. Palmer (1984)
763 federal appellate · 279 district · 869 state decisions — followed in 48 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
Applies 21 U.S.C. § 1
Relies on Meyer v. State of Nebraska · Pierce v. Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Same · M'Culloch v. State of Maryland · Gibbons v. Ogden
Cited together with Williamson v. Lee Optical of Oklahoma, Inc. · San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · City of Cleburne Texas v. Cleburne Living Center · Dandridge v. Williams · Vance v. Bradley
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 3,103 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“'prejudice against discrete and insular minorities'”
37 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“it is evident from all the considerations presented to [the legislature], and those of which we may take judicial notice, that the question is at least debatable.”
35 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“upon some rational basis within the knowledge and experience of the Legislature.”
26 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.