Chambers v. Maroney’s Empirical Analysis
1970
Citation profile
2,676 federal appellate · 294 district · 5,095 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 9,073 later decisions (137 by the Supreme Court) — most recently February 2026 · most notably Illinois v. Gates (1983), Schneckloth v. Bustamonte (1973)
2,676 federal appellate · 294 district · 5,095 state decisions — followed in 50 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 of America Ex Rel. Frank Chambers v. James F. Maroney, Superintendent State Correctional Institution, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (from Third Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)
Relies on Terry v. Ohio · Glasser v. United States · Katz v. United States · Carroll v. United States · Mapp v. Ohio
Cited together with Carroll v. United States · Terry v. Ohio · Coolidge v. New Hampshire · Chimel v. California · Brinegar v. United States
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 9,073 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“For constitutional purposes, we see no difference between on the one hand seizing and holding a car before presenting the probable cause issue to a magistrate and on the other hand carrying out an immediate search without a warrant. Given probable cause to search, either course is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”
345 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Unquestionably, the courts should make every effort to effect early appointments of counsel in all cases. But we are not disposed to fashion a per se rule requiring reversal of every conviction following tardy appointment of counsel or to hold that, whenever a habeas corpus petition alleges a belated appointment, an evidentiary hearing must be held to determine whether the defendant has been denied his constitutional right to counsel.””
21 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“It was not unreasonable in this case to take the car to the station house. All occupants in the car were arrested in a dark parking lot in the middle of the night. A careful search at that point was impractical and perhaps not safe for the officers, and it would serve the owner's convenience and the safety of his car to have the vehicle and the keys together at the station house.”
10 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
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.