Devine v. Ra Sutermeister’s Empirical Analysis
733 F.2d 892 · 1984
Citation profile
13 federal appellate · 2 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 87 later decisions — most recently April 2023 · most notably Russell v. National Mediation Board (1985), Haitian Refugee Center v. Meese (1986)
13 federal appellate · 2 district ·
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 28 U.S.C. § 2412 · 42 U.S.C. § 1988 · 5 U.S.C. § 7122 · 5 U.S.C. § 7703
Relies on Hensley v. Eckerhart · Bradley v. School Board of City of Richmond · Larry Nadeau v. Raymond A. Helgemoe, Warden, New Hampshire State Prison · General Public Utilities Corporation v. Susquehanna Valley Alliance · Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.
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 87 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“This “safety valve” helps to insure that the Government is not deterred from advancing in good faith the novel but credible extensions and interpretations of the law that often underlie vigorous enforcement efforts. It also gives the court discretion to deny awards where equitable considerations dictate an award should not be made.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“look to the substance of the litigation to determine whether an applicant has substantially prevailed in its position, and not merely the technical disposition of the case or motion. In effect, substance should prevail over form.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, a court shall award to a prevailing party other than the United States fees and other expenses, in addition to any costs awarded ..., incurred by that party in any civil action (other than cases sounding in tort), including proceedings for judicial review of agency action, brought by or against the United States in any court having jurisdiction of that action, unless the court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.”
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.