Pate v. Robinson’s Empirical Analysis
1966
Citation profile
1,487 federal appellate · 106 district · 2,872 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 5,739 later decisions (52 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2025 · most notably Drope v. Missouri (1975), Pennsylvania v. Ritchie (1987)
1,487 federal appellate · 106 district · 2,872 state decisions — followed in 49 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 Ex Rel. Theodore Robinson v. Frank J. Pate, Warden (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Jackson v. Denno · Dusky v. United States · Rogers v. Richmond · International Ass'n of Machinists v. Duckworth
Cited together with Dusky v. United States · Drope v. Missouri · Strickland v. Washington · Townsend v. Sain · Johnson v. Zerbst
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 5,739 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding--and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”
72 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“it is contradictory to argue that a defendant may be incompetent, and yet knowingly or intelligently 'waive' his right to have the court determine his capacity to stand trial.”
42 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[w]here the evidence raises a bona fide doubt as to a defendant's competence to stand trial.”
28 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.