Brown v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
1959
Citation profile
303 federal appellate · 21 district · 74 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 551 later decisions (45 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2020 · most notably Katz v. United States (1967), United States v. Calandra (1974)
303 federal appellate · 21 district · 74 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedUnited States v. Brown (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on McNabb v. United States · Hoffman v. United States · Edwin Hale v. William Henkel · Gompers v. Bucks Stove & Range Co. · Burdeau v. McDowell
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 551 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“A grand jury is clothed with great independence in many areas, but it remains an appendage of the court, powerless to perform its investigative function without the court’s aid, because powerless itself to compel the testimony of witnesses. It is the court’s process which summons the witness to attend and give testimony, and it is the court which must compel a witness to testify if, after appearing, he refuses to do so.”
20 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““§ 401. Power of court “A court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as— “(1) Misbehavior of any person in its presence or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice; “(2) Misbehavior of any of its officers in their official transactions; “(3) Disobedience or resistance to its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command.””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent““Rule 42. Criminal Contempt “(b) Disposition Upon Notice and Hearing. A criminal contempt except as provided in subdivision (a) of this rule shall be prosecuted on notice. The notice shall state the time and place of hearing, allowing a reasonable time for the preparation of the defense, and shall state the essential facts constituting the criminal contempt charged and describe it as such. The notice shall be given orally by the judge in open court in the presence of the defendant or, on application of the United States attorney or of an attorney appointed by the court for that purpose, by an order to show cause or an order of arrest. The defendant is entitled to a trial by jury in any case in which an act of Congress so provides. He is entitled to admission to bail as provided in these rules. If the contempt charge involves disrespect to or criticism of a judge, that judge is disqualified from presiding at the trial or hearing except with the defendant’s consent. Upon a verdict or finding of guilt the court shall enter an order fixing the punishment.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
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.