Mata v. Sumner’s Empirical Analysis
611 F.2d 754 · 1979
Citation profile
17 federal appellate · 2 district · 1 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 31 later decisions (3 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 1997 · most notably Sumner v. Mata (1981), Sumner v. Mata (1982)
17 federal appellate · 2 district · 1 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.
Appellate journey
Relationships
Relies on Chapman v. State of California · Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · Wolff v. McDonnell · Simmons v. United States · Neil v. Biggers
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 31 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“the photographic identification procedure was so impermissibly suggestive as to give rise to a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“obvious that there was a grave likelihood of irreparable misidentification.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Sumner v. Mata · Mata v. Sumner“The prison setting of the crime for which appellant was convicted and the investigation thereafter by prison officials in my opinion dictate the use of photographic identification procedures. Apparently the majority insists as a matter of constitutional law that there be employed lineups of a large group of inmates, with each suspect, or more likely a substantial group of inmates, which would include the suspects, suitably equipped with counsel, in lieu of photographic identification procedures. See [611 F.2d at] p. 759 n. 1. To state the requirement reveals its impracticability. Moreover, it would impose heavy demands on the staff, strain employee relations, and expose the inmates to increased risks of bodily harm "The prison world is unique. It differs enormously even from the precinct station house and police headquarters. A "code of silence”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissente.g. Mata v. Sumner
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.