Delaware State College v. Ricks’s Empirical Analysis
1980
Citation profile
1,198 federal appellate · 718 district · 373 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 4,414 later decisions (31 by the Supreme Court) — most recently October 2024 · most notably National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan (2002), Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. (1982)
1,198 federal appellate · 718 district · 373 state decisions — followed in 38 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
reviewedRicks v. Delaware State College (from Third Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Civil Rights Act of 1866) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 706 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
Relies on Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans · Mohasco Corp. v. Silver
Cited together with Chardon v. Fernandez · United Air Lines, Inc. v. Evans · McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green · Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H
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 4,414 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Mere continuity of employment, without more, is insufficient to prolong the life of a cause of action for employment discrimination.”
199 later decisions quote this exact passage“after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred.”
12 later decisions quote this exact passage“All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.”
7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
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.