Ellis v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
1958
Citation profile
234 federal appellate · 9 district · 60 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 376 later decisions (26 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2025 · most notably Anders v. California (1967), Penson v. Ohio (1988)
234 federal appellate · 9 district · 60 state decisions — followed in 31 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
reviewedEllis v. United States (from District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Johnson v. United States · Seelig v. United States · Farley v. United States · Ellis v. United States
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 376 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In the absence of some evident improper motive, the applicant's good faith is established by the presentation of any issue that is not plainly frivolous.”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[i]f the court is satisfied that counsel has diligently investigated the possible grounds of appeal, and agrees with counsel's evaluation of the case, then leave to withdraw may be allowed and leave to appeal may be denied.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“representation in the role of an advocate is required.”
1 later decision 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.