Gilligan v. Morgan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

452 federal appellate · 187 district · 54 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 1,234 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “It would be difficult to think of a clearer example of the type of governmental action that was intended by the Constitution to be left to the political branches directly responsible — as the Judicial Branch is not — to the electoral process. Moreover, it is difficult to conceive of an area of governmental activity in which the courts have less competence. The complex, subtle, and professional decisions as to the composition, training, equipping, and control of a military force are essentially professional military judgments, subject always to civilian control of the Legislative and Executive Branches.”

   77 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Goldwater Et Al. v. Carter, President of the United States, Et Al. · Rostker v. Goldberg

2. “we neither hold nor imply that the conduct of the National Guard is always beyond judicial review”

   13 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hanson v. Wyatt · American K-9 Detection Services, LLC and Hill Country Dog Center, Llc v. Latasha Freeman

3. “[T]his is not a case in which damages are sought for injuries sustained during the tragic occurrence at Kent State. Nor is it an action seeking a restraining order against some specified and imminently threatened unlawful action. Rather, it is a broad call on judicial power to assume continuing regulatory jurisdiction over the activities of the Ohio National Guard.”

   9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hanson v. Wyatt · Kuang v. U.S. Dep't of Def.