Flast v. Cohen’s Empirical Analysis
1968
Citation profile
2,226 federal appellate · 1,075 district · 893 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 7,287 later decisions (218 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Warth v. Seldin (1975), Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment (1998)
2,226 federal appellate · 1,075 district · 893 state decisions — followed in 46 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 20 U.S.C. § 241A · 20 U.S.C. § 241E · 20 U.S.C. § 821 · 28 U.S.C. § 1253
Relies on Baker v. Carr · Griswold v. State of Connecticut · McGowan v. State of Maryland Gallagher · Aetna Life Ins Co of Hartford Conn v. Haworth
Cited together with Baker v. Carr · Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp · Warth v. Seldin · Sierra Club v. Morton · Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc.
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 7,287 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The fundamental aspect of standing is that it focuses on the party seeking to get his complaint before a federal court and not on the issues he wishes to have adjudicated.”
187 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“questions presented in an adversary context and in a form historically viewed as capable of resolution through the judicial process.”
100 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“a taxpayer will be a proper party to allege the unconstitutionality only of exercises of congressional power under the taxing and spending clause of Art. I, § 8, of the Constitution.”
71 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.