Veazie Bank v. Fenno’s Empirical Analysis
75 U.S. 533 · 1869
Citation profile
44 federal appellate · 22 district · 46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 347 later decisions (136 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2025 · most notably Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. (1970), Flast v. Cohen (1968)
44 federal appellate · 22 district · 46 state decisions — followed in 21 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.
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 347 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The first answer to this is that the .judicial cannot prescribe to the legislative departments of the government limitations upon the exercise of its acknowledged powers. The power to tax may be exercised oppressively upon persons, but the responsibility of the Legislature is not to the courts, but to the people by whom its members are elected. So, if a particular tax bears heavily upon a corporation or a class of corporations, it cannot, for that reason only, be pronounced contrary to the Constitution.””
8 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and General Welfare of the United States * * *.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage““ The methods adopted for the supply of this currency were briefly explained in the first part of this opinion. It now consists of coin, of United States notes, and of the notes of the national banks. Both descriptions of notes may be properly described as bills of credit, for both are furnished by the government; both are issued upon the credit of the government; and the government is responsible for the redemption of both; primarily as to the first described, and immediately upon default of the bank as to the second......Having thus, in the exercise of undisputed constitutional powers, undertaken to provide a currency for the whole country, it can not be questioned that Congress may constitutionally secure the benefit of it to the people, by appropriate legislation.””
3 later decisions 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.