Butler v. Thornburgh’s Empirical Analysis
900 F.2d 871 · 1990
Citation profile
5 federal appellate · 2 district · 2 state decisions
Relationships
Applies 29 U.S.C. § 706 · 29 U.S.C. § 791 · 29 U.S.C. § 794 · 29 U.S.C. § 794A
Relies on Williams v. Kemp · Prewitt v. United States Postal Service · Copeland v. Philadelphia Police Department · National Labor Relations Board v. Washington Star Co. · 598 F. Supp. 126 - Whitlock v. Donovan
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 10 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[Wjhether or not Butler comes within the scope of the protections of the Rehabilitation Act, his position as a law enforcement officer means that his alcoholic incidents furnish a sufficient basis for his discharge because he cannot carry on his work safely.... [A]n FBI special agent stands on the front line of law enforcement; and alcohol dependency would seriously compromise his ability to function and could pose just such a threat to the safety of others as is proscribed by regulation. Thus, the Rehabilitation Act offers no protection to Butler because he has shown himself incapable of safely performing his duties, even the simplest of which — carrying a loaded firearm — is a demanding and dangerous one. (Citations omitted).”
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.