The Peterhoff’s Empirical Analysis
72 U.S. 28 · 1866
Citation profile
2 federal appellate · 3 district · 3 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 24 later decisions (11 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2017
2 federal appellate · 3 district · 3 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.
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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The first consists of articles manufactured and primarily and ordinarily used for military purposes in time of war; the second, of articles which may he and are used for purposes of war or peace, according to circumstances; and the third, of articles exclusively used for peaceful purposes. Merchandise of the first class, destined to a belligerent country or places occupied by the army or navy of a belligerent, is always contraband; merchandise of the second class is contraband only when actually destined to the military or naval use of a belligerent; while merchandise of the third class is not contraband ac all, though liable to seizure and condemnation for violation of blockade or siege.” The Peterhoff, 5 Wall. 28 , 58, 18 L. Ed. 564 .”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Nor do we stop to inquire which law does whom the greater or the lesser good. The argument is misaddressed.... “In cases such as that now in judgement, we administer the public law of nations, and are not at liberty to inquire what is for the particular advantage or disadvantage of our own or another country.””
1 later decision 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.