Bruce v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
379 F.2d 113 · 1967
Citation profile
124 federal appellate · 4 district · 130 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 286 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2026 · most notably North Carolina v. Alford (1970), 23 Cal. 3d 412 - People v. Pope (1979)
124 federal appellate · 4 district · 130 state decisions — followed in 13 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.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Pinkerton v. United States · Kercheval v. United States · Rodriguez v. New York · Costello v. United States · Williamson 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 286 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“not to be taken literally, but rather as a vivid description of the principle that the accused has a heavy burden in showing requisite unfairness.”
11 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“A defendant may plead not guilty, guilty or, with the consent of the court, nolo contendere. The court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty, and shall not accept such plea or a plea of nolo contendere without first addressing the defendant personally and determining that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. If a defendant refuses to plead or if the court refuses to accept a plea of guilty or if a defendant corporation fails to appear, the court shall enter a plea of not guilty. The court shall not enter a judgment upon a plea of guilty unless it is satisfied that there is a factual basis for the plea.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““The Committee’s purpose was that the court itself be satisfied of the factual basis for the plea, rather than rely exclusively on the defendant and his counsel. As the committee noted, this practice by the court avoids the possibility of a guilty plea from a defendant who fails to realize that as a matter of law his conduct ‘does not actually fall within the charge’. The fear, that an innocent man may be unjustly punished, bids a court be chary before it accepts a plea of guilty filed by one proclaiming that he is not guilty.””
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.