Lego v. Twomey’s Empirical Analysis
1972
Citation profile
799 federal appellate · 293 district · 2,135 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,845 later decisions (53 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Jackson v. Virginia (1979), Wainwright v. Sykes (1977)
799 federal appellate · 293 district · 2,135 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
reviewedthe decision below (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · In the Matter of Samuel Winship · Mapp v. Ohio · Townsend v. Sain · Jackson v. Denno
Cited together with Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Jackson v. Denno · Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · Colorado v. Connelly · United States v. Matlock
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 3,845 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“nothing to suggest that admissibility rulings have been unreliable or otherwise wanting in quality because not based on some higher standard.”
44 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““We noted in Jackson [v. Denno] that there may be a relationship between the involuntariness of a confession and- its unreliability. 12 But our decision was not based in the slightest on the fear that juries might misjudge the accuracy of confessions and arrive at erroneous determinations of guilt or innocence. That case was not aimed at reducing the possibility of convicting innocent men.””
12 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“In any criminal prosecution brought by the United States or by the District of Columbia, a confession, as defined in subsection (e) hereof, shall be admissible in evidence if it is voluntarily given. Before such confession is received in evidence, the trial' judge shall, out of the presence of the jury, determine any issue as to volun-tariness. Jf the trial judge determines that the confession was voluntarily made it shall be admitted in evidence and the trial judge shall permit the jury to hear relevant evidence on the issue of volun-tariness and shall instruct the jury to give such weight to the confession as the jury feels it deserves under all the circumstances.”
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.