407 So. 2d 559 - Ex Parte Sullivan’s Empirical Analysis
1981
Citation profile
70 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 73 later decisions — most recently April 2025 · most notably Ex Parte Terry (1986), Ex Parte Mathews (1983)
70 state decisions
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
Relies on Chandler v. Whatley · Griggs v. Barnes · Striplin v. Ware · Hanks v. Hanks · Prince v. Prince
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 73 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“the care which is prompted by the parental instinct, and responded to by filial affection, is most valuable of all”
6 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Rsc v. Jbc · Ex Parte Terry“`Adoption is not merely an arrangement between the natural parents and adoptive parents, but is a status created by the state acting as parens patriae, the sovereign parent. Because the exercise of sovereign power involved in adoption curtails the fundamental rights of the natural parent[s], the adoption statutes must be closely adhered to.'”
5 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Ex parte E.L. · Ex Parte CV“The law recognizes that a higher authority ordains natural parenthood, and a fallible judge should disturb the relationship thus established only where circumstances compel human intervention”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage
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.