Brandt v. Wheaton’s Empirical Analysis
1877
Citation profile
1 federal appellate · 2 district · 14 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 18 later decisions — most recently December 1944
1 federal appellate · 2 district · 14 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
Relies on Boggs v. Merced Mining Co. · Curtis v. Sutter · Merced Mining Co. v. Fremont · Head v. Fordyce · Hughes v. Devlin
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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In the briefs of appellant and respondent this is called ‘an action to quiet title.’ It is a suit under section 738 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the complaint is to be treated as a bill in equity. The general verdict of the jury, therefore, is to be disregarded. If this were the only question to be considered, the cause would be remanded to the court below to find the facts. But the case made by plaintiff simply shows that he is in possession. As against a mere trespasser, one in possession of a portion of the public land will be presumed to be the owner, notwithstanding the circumstance that the court has judicial notice that he is not the owner, but that the government is. This rule lias been maintained from motives of public policy, and to secure the quiet enjoyment of possessions which are intrusions upon the United States alone. But it would be carrying a presumption against the fact to an absurdity to say that one in possession, who lias, not acquired the fee from the government, — the true owner, — is entitled to a decree, the practical effect of which is to prohibit a third person from obtaining title by purchase, or by appropriate proceedings under statutes of the United States. The respective claims of conflicting claimants may be asserted in the appropriate tribunals established by the government for that purpose. A decree here in favor of plaintiff -would have no effect by way of inducement to the officers of the land department of the United States to iss”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Davidson v. Calkins
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.