Bogan v. Scott-Harris’s Empirical Analysis
1998
Citation profile
251 federal appellate · 158 district · 134 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 1,120 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently September 2025 · most notably Hill v. Borough of Kutztown (2006), Charles Morris v. Ann Lindau (1999)
251 federal appellate · 158 district · 134 state decisions — followed in 23 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
reviewedScott-Harris v. City of Fall River (from First Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Harlow v. Fitzgerald · Owen v. City of Independence · Tenney v. Brandhove · United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co.
Cited together with Tenney v. Brandhove · Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York · Harlow v. Fitzgerald · Supreme Court of Virginia v. Consumers Union of the United States, Inc. · Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
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 1,120 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Whether an act is legislative turns on the nature of the act, rather than on the motive or intent of the official performing it.”
31 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“reflected a discretionary, policymaking decision implicating the budgetary priorities of the city and the services the city provides to its constituents.”
21 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Absolute legislative immunity attaches to all actions taken in the sphere of legitimate legislative activity.”
15 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.