Rivas v. Freeman’s Empirical Analysis
940 F.2d 1491 · 1991
Citation profile
29 federal appellate · 2 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 84 later decisions — most recently June 2023 · most notably Maldonado-Denis v. Castillo-Rodriguez (1994), Marsh v. Butler County (2001)
29 federal appellate · 2 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 Harlow v. Fitzgerald · City of Canton v. Harris · Daniels v. Williams · Pembaur v. City of Cincinnati · City of Oklahoma City v. Tuttle
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 84 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[a]n official may be liable where the custom or policy established resulted in deliberate indifference to constitutional rights. Thus, liability may be imposed due to the existence of an improper policy or the absence of a policy.”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[L]iability may be imposed due to the existence of an improper policy or from the absence of a policy.”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“was directly responsible for formulating policies concerning correct and adequate identification of suspects and ensuring that suspects are accounted for while incarcerated. The evidence presented at trial clearly demonstrates that Sheriff Freeman failed to establish such policies. This lack of well-established policies and procedures caused Rivas’s arrest----”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Colvin v. Curtis
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.