Clift v. Clift’s Empirical Analysis
1977
Citation profile
19 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 19 later decisions — most recently October 2010
19 state decisions — followed in 10 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 Miller v. E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co. · 49 Ala. App. 514 - Phillips v. Phillips · Davis v. Davis · 49 Ala. App. 662 - Linderman v. Linderman · Striplin v. Ware
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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““66 A.L.R.2d 1410,1413-14, states: “ ‘[T]he view taken in the great majority of the decisions which have touched upon the matter seems to be that while the courts in a child custody proceeding cannot pass upon the comparative merits of various religions and controlling effect must be given to the temporal welfare of the child, religious questions may well be bound up in the issue of temporal welfare and, if so, may properly be considered by the court.’ “Similarly, it has been said: “ ‘Religion may be an element in the award of custody of infants insofar as it remains a secondary factor to be considered along with all other circumstances weighed to promote the child’s best interest and general welfare; in no case may religion be the sole basis upon which a parent or other person is to be deprived of custody.’ (Religion — A Factor In Awarding Custody Of Infants, 31 S. Cal. L.Rev. 313, 319 (1958).) “We deem this to be the applicable statement of the law. “The Constitution guarantees that citizens of the United States shall be free to pursue the religious beliefs of their choice. Consonant with this First Amendment right, courts have repeatedly declared that religious beliefs alone shall not constitute the sole determinant in child custody awards. Mollish v. Mollish, Tenn.App., 494 S.W.2d 145 (1972); Sinclair v. Sinclair, 204 Kan. 240 , 461 P.2d 750 (1969); Quiner v. Quiner, Cal.App., 59 Cal.Rptr. 503 (1967); Welker v. Welker, 24 Wis.2d 570 , 129 N.W.2d 134 (1964); Frantzen v. Fr”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“". . . We hold that questions concerning religious convictions, when reasonably related to the determination of whether the prospective custodian's convictions might result in physical or mental harm to the child, are proper considerations for the trial court in a child custody proceeding."”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“"[T]hat one's religious beliefs may not serve as the sole consideration in a child custody proceeding does not necessarily preclude exploration into those beliefs. In this State, as in other jurisdictions, the ultimate consideration in determining the proper custody of the child is what is in his best interests.... "`....' "... We hold that questions concerning religious convictions, when reasonably related to the determination of whether the prospective custodian's convictions might result in physical or mental harm to the child, are proper considerations for the trial court in a child custody proceeding."”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.