Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co.’s Empirical Analysis
1970
Citation profile
4,541 federal appellate · 4,741 district · 711 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 31,217 later decisions (201 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2026 · most notably Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. (1986), Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H (1986)
4,541 federal appellate · 4,741 district · 711 state decisions — followed in 45 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
reviewedSandra Adickes v. S. H. Kress and Company (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 10 U.S.C. § 333 · 18 U.S.C. § 241 (Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996) · 18 U.S.C. § 242 · 28 U.S.C. § 1343 · 42 U.S.C. § 1982 (Civil Rights Act of 1866) · 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act)) · 42 U.S.C. § 1985 · 42 U.S.C. § 1988
Relies on United States v. Diebold, Inc. · Monroe v. Pape · First Nat. Bank of Ariz. v. Cities Service Co. · Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al.
Cited together with Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H · Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Monroe v. Pape
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 31,217 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[T]he plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. In such a situation, there can be no genuine issue as to any material fact, since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the non-moving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.”
1,181 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party’s pleading, but the adverse party’s response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.”
251 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“of the United States. Second, the plaintiff must show that the defendant deprived him of this constitutional right”
87 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How later courts have treated this case
Across 78 classified citations — whether each later court relied on, limited, or rejected this decision:
- 40cited without characterization
- 23followed
- 15explained
Treatment is classified from each citing court's own sentence. This is a running sample — coverage grows as the classification pass proceeds; overrulings are also tracked authoritatively in the case status.