United States v. Speed’s Empirical Analysis
75 U.S. 77 · 1868
Citation profile
19 federal appellate · 1 district · 18 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 86 later decisions (12 by the Supreme Court) — most recently August 2009 · most notably United States v. Behan (1884), College Point Boat Corporation v. United States (1925)
19 federal appellate · 1 district · 18 state decisions — followed in 11 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 86 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““If the jury believe from the evidence that the said defendants committed a breach of said agreement of April 12, 1899, then in estimating the damages, if any, sustained by plaintiff by reason of such breach after October 14, 1901, the jury should make a reasonable deduction for the less time engaged, and for release from care, trouble, risk, and responsibility attending a full execution of said agreement by the plaintiff.””
6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““ * * * invests the officer charged with the duty of procuring supplies or services with a discretion to dispense with advertising, if the exigencies of the public service require immediate delivery or performance. “It is too well settled to admit of dispute at this day, that where there is a discretion of this kind conferred on an officer, or board of officers, and a contract is made in which they have exercised that discretion, the validity of the ■ contract cannot be made to depend on the-degree of wisdom or skill which may have accompanied its exercise.” [Italics supplied.]”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“[Wjhere, as in this case, the obligation of plaintiffs requires an expenditure of a large sum in preparation to enable them to perform it, and a continuous readiness to perform, the law implies a duty in the other party to do whatever is necessary for him to do to enable plaintiffs to comply with their promise or covenant.”
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.