Wright v. Trammell’s Empirical Analysis
810 F.2d 589 · 1987
Citation profile
14 federal appellate · 8 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 38 later decisions — most recently June 2025 · most notably Dace v. Mickelson (1987), Kelly Banner v. Christine J. Bradley Jeff Reynolds (1994)
14 federal appellate · 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 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Greenholtz v. Inmates of Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex · Wagner v. Gilligan · Mayes v. Trammell · Sharp v. Leonard
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 38 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Parole being a privilege and not a right, no prisoner shall be released on parole merely as a reward for good conduct or efficient performance of duties assigned in prison, but only if the board is of the opinion that there is reasonable probability that if such prisoner is released he will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible with the welfare of society. If the board shall so determine, such prisoner may be paroled.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The Board operates under the presumption that each resident who is eligible for parole is a worthy candidate and thus the Board presumes that he will be released on parole when he is first eligible.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“mere hope that a benefit will be obtained,”
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.