Railway Company v. Prescott’s Empirical Analysis
83 U.S. 603 · 1872
Citation profile
3 federal appellate · 7 district · 46 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 122 later decisions (26 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 1950 · most notably Sinking-Fund Cases v. United States Central Pacific Railroad Company (1879), Van Brocklin v. Anderson (1886)
3 federal appellate · 7 district · 46 state decisions — followed in 22 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.
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 122 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Xlwt land sold by tlio United Stales may be taxed before the possession of legal title by issue of patent. But this principle is applicable to cases where the right 1o the patent is complete, and the equitable title is fully vested in the party." without anything more to be paid, or any act to be done going to the foundation of his right.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“that no lands granted to any railroad corporation by any act of Congress shall be exempted from taxation by States, Territories and municipal corporations on account of the lien of the United States upon the same for the costs of surveying, selecting and conveying the same, or be cause no patent has been issued therefor; but this provision shall not apply to lands unsurVeyed: Provided, That any such land sold for taxes shall be taken by the purchaser subject to the lien for costs of surveying, selecting and conveying, to be paid in such manner by the purchaser as the Secretary of the Interior may by rule provide and to all'liens of the United States, all mortgages of the United States, and all rights of the United States in respect to such lands: Provided further, That this act shall apply only to lands situated opposite to and coterminous with completed portions of said roads, and in organized counties: Provided further, That at any sale of lands under the provisions of this act the United States may become a preferred purchaser, and in such case the lands sold shall be restored to the public domain and disposed of as provided by the laws relating thereto.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage““That before any land granted by this act shall be conveyed to any company or party entitled thereto under this act, there shall first be paid into the treasury of the United States the cost of surveying, selecting, and conveying the same, by the said company or party in interest, as the titles shall be required by said company, which amount shall, without any further appropriation, ... be used by the commissioner of the general land office for the prosecution of the survey of the public lands along the line of said road, and so from year to year until the whole shall be completed, as provided under the provisions of this act.””
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.