Minersville School District v. Gobitis’s Empirical Analysis
310 U.S. 586 · 1940
Citation profile
98 federal appellate · 43 district · 136 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 458 later decisions (68 by the Supreme Court) — most recently August 2023 · most notably Monroe v. Pape (1961), McGowan v. State of Maryland Gallagher (1961)
98 federal appellate · 43 district · 136 state decisions — followed in 22 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. A case is still cited after being overruled — to note the reversal, distinguish it, or in dissent. 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
reviewedMinersville School Dist. v. Gobitis (from Third Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Cantwell v. State of Connecticut · Meyer v. State of Nebraska · Pierce v. Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Same · Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization · United States v. Carolene Products Co.
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 458 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Conscientious scruples have not, in the course of the long struggle for religious toleration, relieved the individual from obedience to a general law not aimed at the promotion or restriction of religious beliefs. The mere possession of religious convictions which contradict the relevant concerns of a political society does not relieve the citizen from the discharge of political responsibilities.”
22 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““The Constitution expresses more than the conviction of the people that democratic processes must be preserved at all costs. It is also an expression of faith and a command that freedom of mind and spirit must be preserved, which government must obey, if it is to adhere to that justice and moderation without which no free government can exist.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. “4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is. in the water under the earth: “5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: . .”
2 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.