Time, Inc. v. Firestone’s Empirical Analysis
1976
Citation profile
300 federal appellate · 128 district · 536 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 1,253 later decisions (38 by the Supreme Court) — most recently February 2025 · most notably Paul v. Davis (1976), Hernandez v. New York (1991)
300 federal appellate · 128 district · 536 state decisions — followed in 42 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.
Relationships
Relies on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · Roth v. United States · Boddie v. Connecticut · Sheppard v. Maxwell
Cited together with Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts · St. Amant v. Thompson · Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc.
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 1,253 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“For the most part those who attain this status [of public figure] have assumed roles of especial prominence in the affairs of society. Some occupy positions of such persuasive power and influence that they are deemed public figures for all purposes. More commonly, those classed as public figures have thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved. In either event, they invite attention and comment.”
31 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(t)he public interest in accurate reports of judicial proceedings.”
14 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the scion of one of America's wealthier industrial families,”
9 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.