Hewitt’s Empirical Analysis
Citation profile
14 federal appellate · 3 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 42 later decisions — most recently August 2022 · most notably Vernon v. City of Los Angeles (1994), Kreisner v. City of San Diego (1993)
14 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
Relies on Hensley v. Eckerhart · Lemon v. Kurtzman · Massachusetts v. Mellon · Lynch v. Donnelly · County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union
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 42 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[f]ree exercise and enjoyment of religion ... are guaranteed. This liberty of conscience does not excuse acts that are licentious or inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“[t]he menorah ... differs in degree from the Latin cross in terms of its significance as a symbol of religion. The cross is the preeminent symbol of many Christian religions and represents with relative clarity and simplicity the Christian message of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a doctrine at the heart of Christianity. The menorah’s significance to Judaism, on the other hand, is much less direct. Chanukah is not perceived as the most important Jewish holiday. It does not celebrate any central Jewish religious principle but rather celebrates a historical event which has provident overtones. Certainly the menorah is a central part of the traditional celebration of the holiday, but the candelabrum itself does not readily focus attention on a religious doctrine in the manner of the cross (i.e., the salvation of mankind through the atonement and resurrection of Christ), nor does it visually portray a central tenet of religion as does a nativity scene (i.e., the divine and virgin birth of Christ in mortality).”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“[t]he Attorney General of this state has observed that “it would be difficult to imagine a more sweeping statement of the principle of governmental impartiality in the field of religion” than that found in the “no preference” clause, and Califorpia courts have interpreted the clause as being more protective of the principle of separation than the federal guarantee.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
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.