Cummings v. Scranton’s Empirical Analysis
1943
Citation profile
17 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 17 later decisions — most recently July 1981
17 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.
Relationships
Relies on Bailey v. Philadelphia · Thiel v. Philadelphia · Raton Waterworks Co. v. Town of Raton · City of Chicago v. Berger · Schneider v. Scranton
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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“. . . These two statutes must be read together. The legislature in enacting regulatory statutes intends a reasonable and just grant of power, not a power to be exercised arbitrarily, indiscriminately, and without regard to the interest of those for whom benefits were intended. Provision has been made by the legislature requiring publication of the intended annual appropriation ordinance to enable the public to express its approval or disapproval of contemplated disbursements. Failure to construe `from time to time' with reference to the legislative mandate that all appropriations shall be made annually would enable city council to manipulate salaries as they might desire. . . . The construction contended for by appellant . . . would open the door to fraud and partisanship. . . . An intention to create such an undesirable situation will not be attributed to the legislature. We are of opinion that the legislature intended `from time to time' to refer to the enactment of the annual appropriation ordinance. Council must, therefore, make provision in such ordinance for all increases in salaries which it might deem necessary and proper. It does not have power to fix salaries from week to week, month to month, or at any other time during the fiscal year after the enactment of a general appropriation ordinance. City council is trustee of the funds over which it has control. The legislature has delimited the powers to be exercised by such trustee. . . . If the legislature intended the”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage““Conceivably no surplus would be preserved and applied to the budget for the ensuing year. Reduction of taxes would become a mere possibility. The construction contended for by appellant [employes] would tend most strongly to a loose and irresponsible fiscal policy and would open the doors to fraud and partisanship.” 348 Pa. at 544 , 36 A. 2d at 475 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Coleman v. Stevenson“power to fix, from time to time, the salaries of all city officials and employees who are not elected.”
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.