United States v. Seeger’s Empirical Analysis
1965
Citation profile
1,035 federal appellate · 316 district · 156 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 2,259 later decisions (53 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2025 · most notably Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), Blanchette v. Connecticut General Insurance Corporations (1974)
1,035 federal appellate · 316 district · 156 state decisions — followed in 24 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. Seeger (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · Bolling v. Sharpe · Sherbert v. Verner · Crowell v. Benson · Estep v. United States
Cited together with Welsh II v. United States · Witmer v. United States · Estep v. United States · Dickinson v. United States · Wisconsin v. Yoder
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 2,259 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“of a belief is not open to question, there remains the significant question whether it is”
55 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““The test might be stated in these words: A sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by the God of those admittedly qualifying for the exemption comes within the statutory definition. This construction avoids imputing to Congress an intent to classify different religious beliefs, exempting some and excluding others, and is in accord with the well-established congressional policy of equal treatment for those whose opposition to service is grounded in their religious tenets.””
43 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““(j) Nothing contained in this title (sections 451-454 and 455-471 of this Appendix) shall be construed to require any person to be subject to combatant training and service in the armed forces of the United States who, by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form. Religious training and belief in this connection means an individual’s belief in a relation to a Supreme Being involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code.””
22 later decisions 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.