Dickey v. Reed’s Empirical Analysis
1875
Citation profile
2 district · 56 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 59 later decisions — most recently June 1966 · most notably Board of Revenue v. Merrill (1915), State ex rel. Yancey v. Hyde (1889)
2 district · 56 state decisions — followed in 25 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.
Relationships
Relies on Walton v. Develing · Moore v. Hoisington · Darst v. People · People ex rel. Fitnam v. City of Galesburg
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 59 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““But did the court have a general power to hear and determine as to the fairness of the result of elections in this class of cases, on the requisite facts being stated in the bill? If so, then the court had power over the subject-matter, although the facts were so defectively stated as to fail to confer jurisdiction in the particular case. We think clearly not, because no state of facts, however stated, could confer power to adjudicate in that class of cases. We are aware of no adjudged case, or text-writer, who has ever announced the power as inherent in the courts of equity, to try contested elections between persons claiming an office, or in a case of this character. It is believed that no case can be found, where an English court of chancery has ever tried a contested election where the public were concerned. And such cases are believed to be of rare occurrence in this country, and then only where the power has been conferred by express enactment or necessary implication therefrom.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““It is true that officers and others may be embarrassed as to their course of action in such cases. They must act at their peril under all such circumstances. They can, as the parties did in this case, call to their aid able counsel, learn their duty from all available sources, and then act and abide the consequences. If the advice they procure be wrong, it will be their misfortune, and the incorrect advice will not excuse the offense or mitigate the punishment.””
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.