Small v. Lutz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 state decisions

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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““When the defendant’s application for a patent was made under his homestead entry, it became the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, as the head of the Land Department, and by virtue of his general control over the disposition of the public lands, as well as under the provisions of the swamp land act. to ascertain whether the land applied for was in fact public land, and, when the defendant’s final proof was accepted, and a patent issued to him, it was in legal contemplation decided that the land was not swamp and overflowed within the terms of the grant to the state. The acceptance of defendant’s final proof, and the issuance of a patent to him, were, so far as appears, made in the regular course of business and orderly administration of the laws of the United States relating to the disposition of public lands, after the usual notice in such eases. The plaintiff could have appeared and contested the defendant’s right to a patent, on the ground that the land was in fact swamp and overflowed, and passed to the state by the swamp land act. He did not pursue that course, but, nevertheless, the action of the Land Department is as conclusive upon him as if he had appeared and made an unavailing contest.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Kerns v. Lee