Rankin v. McPherson’s Empirical Analysis
1987
Citation profile
1,390 federal appellate · 451 district · 342 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,652 later decisions (21 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2025 · most notably Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006), City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. (1988)
1,390 federal appellate · 451 district · 342 state decisions — followed in 40 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
reviewedMcPherson v. Rankin (from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205 Will County Illinois · Perry v. Sindermann · Connick v. Myers
Cited together with Connick v. Myers · Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205 Will County Illinois · Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · Harlow v. Fitzgerald · Anderson v. Creighton
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 3,652 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“It is clearly established that a State may not discharge an employee on a basis that infringes that employee's constitutionally protected interest in freedom of speech.”
193 later decisions quote this exact passage“whether the statement impairs discipline by superiors or harmony among co-workers, has a detrimental impact on close working relationships for which personal loyalty and confidence are necessary, or impedes the performance of the speaker's duties or interferes with the regular operation of the enterprise.”
129 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“somehow undermines the mission of the public employer”
32 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.