United States v. Burrows’s Empirical Analysis
48 F.3d 1011 · 1995
Citation profile
32 federal appellate · 7 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 46 later decisions — most recently October 2025 · most notably Leaf v. Shelnutt (2005), United States v. Monem (1997)
32 federal appellate · 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 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act)
Relies on Terry v. Ohio · Michigan v. Long · Maryland v. Buie · Lane v. Peterson · Sowashee Venture v. EB, Inc.
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 46 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“a reasonable belief based on specific and articulable facts that the area to be swept harbors an individual posing a danger to those on the arrest scene.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“the particular configuration of the dwelling and the characteristics of those known to be present and who might be present must be the primary focus of the officers’ assessment. Moreover, although never adequate standing alone to justify a sweep, the general surroundings, especially its history in previous law enforcement efforts, must enter into the calculus. This latter estimation must be based on actual historical facts, not stereotypes. A protective sweep is not justified simply because an area is ‘poor’ or a ‘housing project.’ It is very relevant, however, that a neighborhood has been the recent scene of other violence or civil strife aimed at law enforcement officers or that there are other articulable reasons for believing that, at the present, the area presents a real threat to the safety of the officers.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“The risk of danger in the context of an arrest in the home is as great as, if not greater than, it is in an on-the-street or roadside investigatory encounter. A Terry or Long frisk occurs before a police-citizen confrontation has escalated to the point of arrest. A protective sweep, in contrast, occurs as an adjunct to the serious step of taking a person into custody for the purpose of prosecuting him for a crime. Moreover, unlike an encounter on the street or along a highway, an in-home arrest puts the officer at the disadvantage of being on his adversary’s “turf.” An ambush in a confined setting of unknown configuration is more to be feared than it is in open familiar surroundings.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. State v. Roberts
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.