Steele v. Steele’s Empirical Analysis
1946
Citation profile
9 federal appellate · 4 state decisions
Relationships
Applies 33 U.S.C. § 901 · 45 U.S.C. § 51 (Federal Employers' Liability Act)
Relies on Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. v. Smith · Jamison v. Encarnacion · Baltimore Philadelphia Steamboat Co v. Norton · Thompson v. Thompson · Jessie Thompson v. Charles N Thompson
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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Apart from the consideration that the perpetration of such atrocious wrongs affords adequate grounds for relief under the statutes of divorce and alimony, this construction [which would discard the immunity] would, at the same time, open the doors of the courts to accusations of all sorts of one spouse against the other, and bring into public notice complaints for assault, slander, and libel, and alleged injuries to property of the one or the other, by husband against wife, or wife against husband. Whether the exercise of such jurisdiction would be pro-motive of the public welfare and domestic harmony is at least a debatable question. The possible evils of such legislation might well make the lawmaking power hesitate to enact it. But these and kindred considerations are addressed to the legislative, not the judicial, branch of the government. In cases like the present, interpretation of the law is the only function of the courts.”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Jones v. Pledger
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.