Lott v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
1961
Citation profile
166 federal appellate · 8 district · 84 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 338 later decisions (14 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2025 · most notably North Carolina v. Alford (1970), Copperweld Corporation v. Independence Tube Corporation (1984)
166 federal appellate · 8 district · 84 state decisions — followed in 14 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
reviewedLott v. United States (from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on United States v. Robinson · Moses Lake Homes, Inc. v. Grant County · United States v. Frankfort Distilleries, Inc. · United States v. Norris · Hudson 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 338 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[although it is said that a plea of nolo contendere means literally I do not contest [the charge], and is a mere statement of unwillingness to contest and no more, it does admit every essential element of the offense (that is) well pleaded in the charge. Hence, it is tantamount to an admission of guilt for the purposes of the case, and nothing is left but to ren der judgment, for.the obvious reason that in the face of the plea no issue of fact exists, and none can be made while the plea remains of record.”
8 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Time for Taking Appeal. An appeal by a defendant may be taken within 10 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from, but if a motion for a new trial or in arrest of judgment has been made within the 10-day period an appeal from a judgment of conviction may be taken within 10 days after entry of the order denying the motion.””
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.