Bowen v. Massachusetts’s Empirical Analysis
1988
Citation profile
641 federal appellate · 492 district · 81 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 2,351 later decisions (30 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2025 · most notably Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg (1989), Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance v. Knudson (2002)
641 federal appellate · 492 district · 81 state decisions — followed in 11 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
reviewedthe decision below (from First Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 10 U.S.C. § 1201 · 15 U.S.C. § 45 (§ 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914) · 28 U.S.C. § 1331 · 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (Federal Tort Claims Act) · 28 U.S.C. § 1491 · 28 U.S.C. § 171 · 28 U.S.C. § 172 · 29 U.S.C. § 160 (§ 10 of the National Labor Relations Act)
Relies on Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner · United States v. Testan · Cort v. Ash · Bishop v. Wood · Montana v. United States
Cited together with United States v. Testan · United States v. Mitchell · Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · United States v. Sherwood · Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner
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 2,351 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“An action in a court of the United States seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States or that the United States is an indispensable party.”
191 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“is 'exclusive' only to the extent that Congress has not granted any other court authority to hear the claims that may be decided by the Claims Court.”
19 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“a)arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; b)contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; c)in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right; d)without observance of procedures required by law; e)unsupported by substantial evidence in a case subject to Sections 556 and 557 of this title or otherwise reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute; or f)unwarranted by the facts to the extent such facts are subject to a trial de novo -by the reviewing court.”
12 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
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.