Powell v. Alexander’s Empirical Analysis
391 F.3d 1 · 2004
Citation profile
36 federal appellate · 51 district · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 99 later decisions — most recently February 2025 · most notably Centro Medico del Turabo, Inc. v. Feliciano de Melecio (2005), Gagliardi v. Sullivan (2008)
36 federal appellate · 51 district · 3 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 Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · Connick v. Myers · Kentucky v. Graham · Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · National Association for Advancement of Colored People v. Y Button
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 99 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[CJourts are not limited by the presence or absence of language identifying capacity to suit on the fact of the complaint alone. Rather, courts may examine “the substance of the pleadings and the course of proceedings in order to determine whether the suit is for individual or official liability”. Factors relevant to this analysis include the nature of the plaintiffs claims, requests for compensatory or punitive damages, and the nature of any defenses raised in response to the complaint, particularly claims of qualified immunity. A court may also take into consideration whether the parties are still in the early stages of litigation, including whether amendment of the complaint may be appropriate. No single factor is disposi-tive in an assessment of the course of proceedings.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress ....”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The defendant may then avoid a finding of liability by showing that 'it would have reached the same decision ... even in the absence of the protected conduct.'”
2 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.