Parratt v. Taylor’s Empirical Analysis
1981
Citation profile
3,543 federal appellate · 1,471 district · 1,125 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 12,040 later decisions (85 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2026 · most notably Daniels v. Williams (1986), Hudson v. Palmer (1984)
3,543 federal appellate · 1,471 district · 1,125 state decisions — followed in 48 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. A case is still cited after being overruled — to note the reversal, distinguish it, or in dissent. 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
reviewedthe decision below (from Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Erie Co v. Tompkins · Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · Mathews v. Eldridge · Estelle v. Gamble
Cited together with Daniels v. Williams · Hudson v. Palmer · Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. · Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth
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 12,040 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(1) whether the conduct complained of was committed by a person acting under color of state law; and (2) whether this conduct deprived a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
302 later decisions quote this exact passage“a random and unauthorized act by a state employee,”
99 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the necessity of quick action by the State or the impracticality of providing any predeprivation process,”
81 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.