Roberts v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis
456 F.2d 819 · 1971
Citation profile
80 federal appellate · 3 district · 7 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 128 later decisions — most recently November 2020 · most notably Doe v. Taylor Independent School District (1994), Jones v. Diamond (1981)
80 federal appellate · 3 district · 7 state decisions
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
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs · Monroe v. Pape · Pierson v. Ray · Barr v. Matteo · Hurn v. Oursler
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 128 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes- to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceedings for redress.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Bryan v. Jones · Cole v. Tuttle“bringing a case such as the accidental closing of a cell door on a prisoner’s hand ... under the rubric of a cruel and unusual punishment, however negligent it may have been. The act may cause the prisoner great pain and suffering, and be highly reprehensible, but what is lacking is a specific intent to be cruel. The word punishment, too, implies a wrong in prison management, in contrast to the casual dereliction of a minor prison employee.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“any neglect or failure in the exercise of its powers or in the discharge of its duties is the default of the board and not of the individuals composing it, and they are not liable for such neglect or default unless expressly made so by statute.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Cole v. Tuttle · Jones v. Diamond
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.