Low v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
795 F.2d 466 · 1986
Citation profile
21 federal appellate · 3 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 35 later decisions — most recently January 2014 · most notably Reilly v. United States (1988), Allgeier v. United States (1990)
21 federal appellate · 3 district ·
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. § 2674 · 28 U.S.C. § 2675
Relies on Anderson v. City of Bessemer City · Midgett v. Slayton · O'Rourke v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc. · Ferrero v. United States · United States v. Alexander
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 35 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“First, the evidence must support the increase in the prayer over the administrative claim.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The evidence that the district court concluded was undiscoverable at the time the claim was filed addresses the precision with which the severity of Brian’s condition could be known. The evidence does not alter the fact, however, that when the administrative claim was filed Mrs. Low already knew that Brian had cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, and was blind, deaf, and mentally retarded. There is no evidence that these conditions became worse or that other conditions developed after the claim was filed. Nor do we find any evidence to suggest that before the claim was filed Mrs. Low had reason to think that Brian would not live to be an adult. This is not a case in which the claimant did not know or reasonably could not have known the basic severity of Brian’s handicap: it was indubitably of grave severity and of unknown — perhaps permanent — duration. The evidence that the district court relied on and that to which Mrs. Low points bears on the precision of Brian’s prognosis.... Such matters are of their nature dubious, partaking of the uncertainties of life itself in which unexpected deaths and equally unexpected recoveries occur. It cannot be gainsaid, however, that by the time her claim was filed, Mrs. Low knew that the worst-case prognosis for Brian was one of great severity.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[I]f the exact nature, extent and duration of each recognized disability must be known before § 2675(b) will be given effect, that section will be rendered useless, and the government will be unable to evaluate any claim made against it without the threat that, if it does not settle, its liability may increase substantially.”
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.