Monroe v. Pape’s Empirical Analysis
1961
Citation profile
4,083 federal appellate · 1,516 district · 749 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 11,360 later decisions (423 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2025 · most notably Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York (1978), Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. (1970)
4,083 federal appellate · 1,516 district · 749 state decisions — followed in 46 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. A case is still cited after being overruled — to note the reversal, distinguish it, or in dissent. 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
reviewedMonroe v. Pape (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Erie Co v. Tompkins · Powell v. State of Alabama Patterson · Bell v. Hood · Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co.
Cited together with Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · McNeese v. Board of Education for Community Unit School District 187 Cahokia · Pierson v. Ray · Bell v. Hood · Screws 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 11,360 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“should be read against the background of tort liability that makes a man responsible for the natural consequences of his actions.”
342 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Pierson v. Ray · Rizzo v. Goode“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.”
160 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.”
40 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.