Felker v. Commonwealth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 state decisions

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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “. . . all too often in the administration of the Commonwealth’s programs designed to benefit it's citizens, the needs of these beneficiaries give way to the strict adherence to agency policies and guidelines. The very people engaged to aid the disadvantaged are hindered in the best performance of their duties by the unnecessary rigidity of the decision making apparatus inherent in the American bureaucracy. . . . This seems especially true in the area of public assistance. The implementation of public welfare systenis in this country, including that in Penn'-'sylvania, seem premised on the philosophy that each applicant should be channeled through to receive any ‘handout’ to which he or she can prove entitlement. This loses sight of the fact that welfare is not a ‘hand-out’ system but a program designed to rehabilitate or maintain those persons not able to rehabilitate or maintain themselves. By doing this, we hope to enhance the public welfare of the entire nation. . But rehabilitation and economic and social stability cannot be channeled through rigid programs. It must be the purpose of every welfare agency in this country to attack and solve the problems of every disadvantaged individual. (Emphasis in original.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ream v. Commonwealth, Department of Public Welfare