Lennox v. Clark’s Empirical Analysis
1953
Citation profile
4 federal appellate · 84 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 91 later decisions — most recently September 2010 · most notably Cali v. Philadelphia (1962), Addison Case (1956)
4 federal appellate · 84 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 Kline v. Harrisburg · Leahey v. Farrell · Murray v. Philadelphia · Genkinger v. New Castle · Knisely v. Cotterel
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 91 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In Lennox v. Clark, 372 Pa. 355, 378-379 , 93 A.2d 834 , Mr. Chief Justice Stern, speaking for the court said, ‘There seems to exist an erroneous impression on the part of the plaintiffs in all these actions regarding section 18 of the Home Rule Act which forbids the city [Philadelphia] to exercise powers contrary to powers granted by acts of the General Assembly applicable in every part of the Commonwealth or to all the cities of the Commonwealth. It is argued that because plaintiffs perform their respective functions and duties in pursuance of general laws which impose similar or identical duties upon officers holding corresponding positions throughout the Commonwealth, the city is thereby shorn of all power to interfere with them or their employes. Nothing could be further from the truth, it being abundantly clear that the limitations of power referred to in section 18 concern only laws in relation to substantive matters of State-wide concern, such as the health, safety, security and general welfare of all the inhabitants of the State, and not to matters affecting merely the personnel and administration of the offices local to Philadelphia and which are of no concern to citizens elsewhere. Any other conclu 'Sion would reduce the Charter to a mere scrap of paper and make the much heralded grant of Philadelphia home rule an illusion and a nullity. ’ ■”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage““. . . Notwithstanding the grant of powers contained in this act, no city shall exercise powers contrary to or in limitation or enlargement of powers granted to the city by acts of the General Assembly which are: “(1) Applicable to aclass or classes of cities on the following subjects: “(xi) Relating to public health. “(2) Applicable in every part of the Commonwealth. “(3) Applicable to all cities of the Commonwealth.” Act of July 15, 1957, P.L. 901, sec. 305, 53 P.S. §41305. (Emphasis added.)”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“(3) Applicable to all the cities of the Commonwealth.”
2 later decisions 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.