Kendall v. Stokes’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

34 federal appellate · 12 district · 41 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 142 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[b]ut a public officer is not liable to an action if he falls into error in a case where the act to be done is not merely a ministerial one, but is one in relation to which it is his duty to exercise judgment and discretion”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · Emery v. Littlejohn

2. ““We the jurors empanelled in the case of Wm. B. Stokes and others vs. Amos Kendall, and in which case we have this day rendered our verdict for the plaintiffs for $11,000, de hereby certify that said verdict was not founded on any idea that the defendant performed the acts complained of by the plaintiffs, and for which we gave damages as above stated, with any intent other than a desire faithfully to perform the duties of his office of Postmaster-General, and protect the public interests committed to his charge, but the said damages were given by us on the ground that the acts complained of were illegal, and that the said sum of $11,000 was the amount of actual damage to plaintiffs, estimated by us to have resulted from said illegal acts.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Stokes v. Kendall

3. “a public officer, acting to the best of his judgment and from a sense of duty, in a matter of account with an individual [is not] liable in an action for an error of judgment.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Butz v. Economou