Helvering v. Fitch’s Empirical Analysis
309 U.S. 149 · 1940
Citation profile
80 federal appellate · 8 district · 16 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 212 later decisions (23 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2014 · most notably Helvering v. Stuart (1942), Commissioner v. Lester (1961)
80 federal appellate · 8 district · 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedFitch v. Commissioner (from Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Douglas v. Willcuts · Fitch v. Commissioner · Shaw v. Shaw · Raskob v. Commissioner
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 212 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“local law and the alimony trust have given the divorced husband a full discharge and leave no continuing obligation however contingent.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““When a divorce is decreed, the court may make such order in relation to the children, property, parties, and the maintenance of the parties as shall be right. “Subsequent changes may be made by it in these respects when circumstances render them expedient.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Knipfer v. Knipfer““On this state of the Iowa authorities we can only speculate as to the power of the Iowa court to modify alimony awarded in a lump sum or a property settlement ratified by a divorce decree. ’ ’”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Fitch v. Fitch
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.