Hurd v. Hodge’s Empirical Analysis
334 U.S. 24 · 1948
Citation profile
303 federal appellate · 65 district · 129 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 779 later decisions (52 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Bolling v. Sharpe (1954), United Paperworkers International Union v. Misco, Inc. (1987)
303 federal appellate · 65 district · 129 state decisions — followed in 21 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
reviewedthe decision below (from District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Shelley v. Kraemer · Hirabayashi v. United States · Korematsu v. United States · United States v. Hutcheson · Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles
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 779 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The power of the federal courts to enforce the terms of private agreements is at all times exercised subject to the restrictions and limitations of the public policy of the United States as manifested in the Constitution, treaties, federal statutes, and applicable legal precedents. Where the enforcement of private agreements would be violative of that policy, it is the obligation of courts to refrain from such exertions of judicial power.”
11 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“All citizens of the United States shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property.”
7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“That all persons bom in the United States of every race and color shall have the same right, in every State and Territory in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding. 14 Stat. 27 .”
6 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.