Haines v. Kerner’s Empirical Analysis
1972
Citation profile
4,071 federal appellate · 2,608 district · 429 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 18,809 later decisions (72 by the Supreme Court) — most recently August 2025 · most notably Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly (2007), Estelle v. Gamble (1976)
4,071 federal appellate · 2,608 district · 429 state decisions — followed in 35 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
reviewedHaines v. Kerner (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 1343 · 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Conley v. Gibson · Dioguardi v. Durning · Schilb v. Kuebel · Haines v. Kerner
Cited together with Conley v. Gibson · Estelle v. Gamble · Wolff v. McDonnell · Cruz v. Beto · Hughes v. Rowe
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 18,809 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.”
241 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Estelle v. Gamble · Bounds v. Smith“denial of due process in the steps leading to (disciplinary) confinement.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“and made no adjustments to reflect plaintiffs' pro se status in its handling of defendants' motions for summary judgment. 27 As this court recently noted when reversing a grant of summary judgment against a pro se plaintiff, 28 (s)ince his application for appointment of counsel was denied, plaintiff is 'entitled to an opportunity to offer proof' unless 'it appears”
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.