Wolff v. McDonnell’s Empirical Analysis
1974
Citation profile
4,844 federal appellate · 1,349 district · 3,368 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 16,473 later decisions (223 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2026 · most notably Mathews v. Eldridge (1976), Bell v. Wolfish (1979)
4,844 federal appellate · 1,349 district · 3,368 state decisions — followed in 50 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
reviewedRobert O. McDonnell Etc. v. Charles L. Wolff, Jr., Etc., Robert O. McDonnell Etc. v. Charles L. Wolff, Jr., Etc. (from Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · Morrissey v. Brewer · In the Matter of Samuel Winship · Haines v. Kerner
Cited together with Morrissey v. Brewer · Hewitt v. Helms · Bell v. Wolfish · Meachum v. Fano · Procunier v. Martinez
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 16,473 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The touchstone of due process is protection of the individual against arbitrary action of government.”
870 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“We do not suggest, however, that the procedures required by today's decision for the deprivation of good time would also be required for the imposition of lesser penalties such as the loss of privileges.”
37 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“An impartial hearing board has been required, to the extent that a member of the board may not participate in a case as an investigating or reviewing officer, or be a witness.”
2 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.