The Montello’s Empirical Analysis
78 U.S. 411 · 1870
Citation profile
12 federal appellate · 19 district · 13 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 85 later decisions (16 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2023 · most notably United States v. Appalachian Electric Power Co. (1940), Union Bridge Company v. United States (1907)
12 federal appellate · 19 district · 13 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.
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 85 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“they constitute navigable waters of the United States within the meaning of the acts of Congress, in contradistinction from navigable waters of the States, when they form in their ordinary condition by themselves, or by uniting with other waters, a continued highway over which commerce is or may be carried on with other States or foreign countries in the customary modes in which such commerce is conducted by water.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“We are supposed to know judicially the principal features of the geography of our country, and, as a part of it, what streams are public navigable waters of the United States.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““It—tlaat is, a stream—can only be deemed navigable water of tbe United States when it forms itself, or by its connection with other waters, a con- tinned highway over which commerce is or may he carried on through other states or foreign countries in the customary mode in which such commerce is. conducted by water. If, however, the stream is not of itself a highway for commerce of other states or foreign countries, or does not form such highway by its connection with other waters, and is only navigable between different places within the state, then it is not a navigable water of the United States, but only a navigable water of the state.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.