Brandon v. Holt’s Empirical Analysis
1985
Citation profile
550 federal appellate · 380 district · 216 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 2,315 later decisions (25 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Mitchell v. Forsyth (1985), Kentucky v. Graham (1985)
550 federal appellate · 380 district · 216 state decisions — followed in 30 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
reviewedBrandon v. Allen (from Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · Monroe v. Pape · Owen v. City of Independence · Hutto v. Finney
Cited together with Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Kentucky v. Graham · Harlow v. Fitzgerald · Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · Will v. Michigan Department of State Police
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 2,315 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“generally represent only another way of pleading an action against an entity of which an officer is an agent.”
24 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“[A] judgment against a public servant 'in his official capacity' imposes liability on the entity that he represents”
11 later decisions quote this exact passage“In at least three recent cases arising under § 1983, we have plainly implied that a judgment against a public servant “in his official capacity” imposes liability on the entity that he represents provided, of course, the public entity received notice and an opportunity to respond. We now make that point explicit.”
10 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.