Cleaver v. Wilcox’s Empirical Analysis
499 F.2d 940 · 1974
Citation profile
19 federal appellate · 1 district · 46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 80 later decisions (3 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 2011 · most notably Sosna v. Iowa (1975), Lassiter v. Department of Social Services of Durham County North Carolina (1981)
19 federal appellate · 1 district · 46 state decisions — followed in 14 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.
Relationships
Relies on Morrissey v. Brewer · Younger v. Harris · Goldberg v. Kelly · Gagnon v. Scarpelli · Griffin v. People of the State of Illinois
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 80 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Parents are entitled to a judicial decision on the right to counsel in each case. The determination should be made with the understanding that due process requires the state to appoint counsel whenever an indigent parent, unable to present his or her case properly, faces a substantial possibility of the loss of custody or of prolonged separation from a child.”
8 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The requisites of due process vary according to specific factual contexts. Here, for example, it is obvious that important rights turn on the manner in which findings of fact are determined, thus focusing attention on the safeguards surrounding the fact-finding process. When an agency of the state seeks to remove a child from the custody of parents who say they are qualified to rear the child, both the parents and the state have interest in accurate findings of fact and informed juvenile-court supervision. The state's interest in saving public money does not outweigh society's interest in preserving viable family units and the parent's interest in not being unfairly deprived of control and custody of a child... . The "civil litigation" generalization overlooks the nature of the rights in question and the relative powers of the antagonists. (citations omitted) [9]”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Reynolds v. Kimmons · Brown v. Guy“One such factor is the length of the separation which the parents may face . The greater the probability of removal, based upon the facts of the case and the social-service worker’s recommendation, the more pressing will be the need for appointed counsel. A second factor is the presence or absence of parental consent or of disputed facts. Also relevant is the parent’s ability to cope with relevant documents and the examination of witnesses. The more complex the case, the more counsel can contribute to the hearings. Finally, should the judge refuse a request for counsel, it is important that the grounds for the refusal be stated in the record so that meaningful judicial review of the refusal can be had in the state courts.”
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.