United States v. Joseph G. Moretti, Inc.’s Empirical Analysis
478 F.2d 418 · 1973
Citation profile
33 federal appellate · 3 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 61 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2023 · most notably Brown v. Lundgren (1976), Save the Bay, Inc. v. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (1977)
33 federal appellate · 3 district ·
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 16 U.S.C. § 661 (Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act) · 16 U.S.C. § 742A (Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956) · 33 U.S.C. § 403 · 33 U.S.C. § 406 · 33 U.S.C. § 407 · 5 U.S.C. § 702
Relies on Vitarelli v. Seaton · United States v. Appalachian Electric Power Co. · The Daniel Ball · Federal Power Commission v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · Allied Chemical & Alkali Workers v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.
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 61 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The creation of any obstruction not affirmatively authorized by Congress, to the navigable capacity of any of the waters of the United States is prohibited; and it shall not be lawful to build or commence the building of any wharf, pier, dolphin, boom, weir, breakwater, bulkhead, jetty, or other structures in any port, roadstead, haven, harbor, canal, navigable river, or other water of the United States, outside established harbor lines, or where no harbor lines have been established, except on plans recommended by the Chief of Engineers and authorized by the Secretary of the Army; and it shall not be lawful to excavate or fill, or in any manner to alter or modify the course, location, condition, or capacity of, any port, roadstead, haven, harbor, canal, lake, harbor of refuge, or inclosure within the limits of any breakwater, or of the channel of any navigable water of the United States, unless the work has been recommended by the Chief of Engineers and authorized by the Secretary of the Army prior to beginning the same.”
6 later decisions quote this exact passage“Every person and every corporation that shall violate any of the provisions of sections 401, 403, and 404 of this title or any rule or regulation made by the Secretary of the Army in pursuance of the provisions of section 404 of this title shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,500 nor less than $500, or by imprisonment (in the case of a natural person) not exceeding one year, or by both such punishments, in the discretion of the court. And further, the removal of any structures or parts of structures erected in violation of the provisions of the said sections may be enforced by the injunction of any district court exercising jurisdiction in any district in which such structures may exist, and proper proceedings to this end may be instituted under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“any filling of navigable waters creates an obstruction to navigation.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage
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.