Martin v. Heckler’s Empirical Analysis
773 F.2d 1145 · 1985
Citation profile
41 federal appellate · 6 district · 8 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 116 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2014 · most notably Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Independent School District (1989), 43 Cal. 3d 1281 - Maria P. v. Riles (1987)
41 federal appellate · 6 district · 8 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.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 2412 · 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act)) · 42 U.S.C. § 1988
Relies on Hensley v. Eckerhart · Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · Maine v. Thiboutot · Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · Rosado v. Wyman
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 116 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“'catalyst motivating defendants to provide the primary relief sought in a manner desired by litigation.' " Id. at 1149 (citation omitted). The plaintiffs' argument is that the lifting of the cease and desist order was due to the initiation of their lawsuit. 14 Because it is undisputed that the plaintiffs have not yet prevailed on any legal issues, see Haitian Refugee Center, supra, or established a right to relief "on the merits”
7 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 pursuant to subsection (a), 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.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““For example, a party may be considered to be ‘prevailing’ if the litigation successfully terminates by a consent decree, an out-of-court settlement, a voluntary cessation of the unlawful practice by the defendant, or other mooting of the case where the plaintiff has vindicated his right.” This is true even where the remedial action moots the lawsuit before trial and the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the suit.”
2 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.