United States v. Wacker’s Empirical Analysis
72 F.3d 1453 · 1995
Citation profile
239 federal appellate · 33 district · 17 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 395 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2025 · most notably Old Chief v. United States (1997), United States v. Ivy (1996)
239 federal appellate · 33 district · 17 state decisions — followed in 13 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.
Relationships
Applies 18 U.S.C. § 2 · 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act) · 18 U.S.C. § 924 · 21 U.S.C. § 801 (§ 101 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 21 U.S.C. § 841 (§ 401 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 21 U.S.C. § 846 (§ 406 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 28 U.S.C. § 1291
Relies on Jackson v. Virginia · Illinois v. Gates · Schneckloth v. Bustamonte · Kotteakos v. United States · Burks v. United States
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 395 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“only if no rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”
13 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“and ask only whether, taking the evidence--'both direct and circumstantial, together with the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom'--in the light most favorable to the government, a reasonable jury could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
10 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“substantial and direct effect upon interstate commerce”
9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
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.