Wells v. Ward’s Empirical Analysis
470 F.2d 1185 · 1972
Citation profile
25 federal appellate · 5 district · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 48 later decisions — most recently February 2018 · most notably Wise v. Bravo (1981), Theodore Smith v. David Plati the University of Colorado (2001)
25 federal appellate · 5 district · 3 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 Monroe v. Pape · Epperson v. Arkansas · Arizona v. California · Brazier v. Cherry · Lewis v. Brautigam
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 48 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“* * * The differences are though in terms of not only the requisite elements under § 1983, but also in the gravity of the right which has been invaded. For example, under state common law, the mere placing of another in apprehension of bodily harm is an assault and the mere unprivileged touching of another is a battery. Also, the slightest interference with personal liberty is a false imprisonment. It does not follow that all such invasions however trivial or frivolous serve to activate remedies under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as those parts of the Bill of Rights which are incorporated in and made a part of due process.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““... The existence of the § 1983 remedy does not require that federal courts entertain all suits in which constitutional deprivations are asserted. A federal constitutional question must exist ‘not in mere form, but in substance, and not in mere assertion, but in essence and effect.’ Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Northern Ohio Traction & Light Co., 252 U.S. 388, 397 , 40 S.Ct. 404, 408 , 64 L.Ed. 626 .” 470 F.2d at 1189 .”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“in the final analysis this incident falls short, not only because the officers acted in accordance with local law requiring that a violator be arrested when he fails to sign the ticket, but also because the case is insubstantial.”
2 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.