Nelson v. Miller’s Empirical Analysis
570 F.3d 868 · 2009
Citation profile
28 federal appellate · 8 district · 4 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 120 later decisions (3 by the Supreme Court) — most recently November 2024 · most notably Sossamon v. Texas (2011), Sossamon v. Texas (2011)
28 federal appellate · 8 district · 4 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
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1981A · 42 U.S.C. § 2000C
Relies on Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · Ex Parte: Edward T Young · Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · Will v. Michigan Department of State Police · Friends of the Earth Incorporateds v. Laidlaw Environmental Services 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 120 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“provided that prisoners could abstain from "any foods the consumption of which violates their required religious tenets" and the district court concluded that Miller had required documentation because he was unfamiliar with any Catholic "required religious tenet" which necessitated a non-meat diet. Under the district court's reasoning, Miller did not ask Muslim and African Hebrew Israelite prisoners to submit verification because he understood from his experience that a limited diet was part of many of these prisoners' religious practice.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“cited several Bible passages purportedly contradicting Nelson's beliefs regarding penance, improperly entangled [Miller] in matters of religious interpretation. It simply [wa]s not appropriate for a prison official to argue with a prisoner regarding the objective truth of a prisoner's religious belief.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“looked for confirmation of the religious dietary tenet 'on paper'-that is, he looked for confirmation of the requirement in some 'church document'-as opposed to inquiring regarding the spiritual goals of the inmate.”
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.