Garner v. Board of Public Works’s Empirical Analysis
341 U.S. 716 · 1951
Citation profile
133 federal appellate · 48 district · 139 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 470 later decisions (80 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2007 · most notably McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973), Bell v. Wolfish (1979)
133 federal appellate · 48 district · 139 state decisions — followed in 17 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 United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · Dennis v. United States · American Communications Ass'n v. Douds · Dent v. State of West Virginia · United States v. Lovett
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 470 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Past conduct may well relate to present fitness; past loyalty may have a reasonable relationship to present and future trust.”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““ * * * We assume that under the Federal Constitution the Charter amendment is valid to the extent that it bars from the city’s public service persons who, subsequent to its adoption in 1941, advise, advocate, or teach the violent overthrow of the Government or who are or become affiliated with any group doing so. The provisions operating thus prospectively were a reasonable regulation to protect the municipal service by establishing an employment qualification of loyalty to the State and the United States. Cf. Gerende v. Board of Supervisors of Elections, 1951, 341 U.S. 56 , 71 , S.Ct. 565 [ 95 L.Ed. 745 ]. Likewise,' as a regulation of political activity of municipal employees, the amendment was reasonably designed to protect the integrity and competency of the service. This Court has held that Congress may reasonably restrict the political activity of federal civil service employees for such a purpose, United Public Workers [of America (C.I.O.)] v. Mitchell, 1947, 330 U.S. 75, 102-103 , 67 S.Ct. 556, 570, 571 , 91 L.Ed. 754 , and a State is not without power to do as much.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“"1. The affidavit raises the issue whether the City of Los Angeles is constitutionally forbidden to require that its employees disclose their past or present membership in the Communist Party or the Communist Political Association. Not before us is the question whether the city may determine that an employee’s disclosure of such political affiliation justifies his discharge.””
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.