95 Ill. 2d 193 - Cockrum v. Baumgartner’s Empirical Analysis
1983
Citation profile
119 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 127 later decisions — most recently June 2017 · most notably Jackson v. Bumgardner (1986), 102 Ill. 2d 505 - Bullard v. Barnes (1984)
119 state decisions — followed in 24 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.
Relationships
Relies on Roe v. Wade · Griswold v. State of Connecticut · Johnson v. United States · Tobin v. Grossman · 64 Wis. 2d 514 - Rieck v. Medical Protective Co.
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 127 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““ ‘Irrespective of the public policy view, adoption of the “benefits rule” as suggested by Troppi , would present unsurmountable problems of proof under our present standards for proof of damages. Proof could undoubtedly be offered regarding the cost of care and maintenance for a hypothetical child, although the standard of living and extent of education to be provided such child would undoubtedly require considerable conjecture and speculation by the trier of facts. “ ‘. . . Nevertheless, as recognized in Hays and Troppi , the satisfaction, joy and companionship which normal parents have in rearing a child make such economic loss worthwhile. These intangible benefits, while impossible to value in dollars and cents are undoubtedly the things that make life worthwhile. Who can place a price tag on a child’s smile or the parental pride in a child’s achievement? Even if we consider only the economic point of view, a child is some security for the parents’ old age. Rather than attempt to value these intangible benefits, our courts have simply determined that public sentiment recognizes that these benefits to the parents outweigh their economic loss in rearing and educating a healthy, normal child.’ 496 S.W.2d at 127-28 .” 416 So. 2d at 722 .”
8 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“It can be seen that permitting recovery then requires that the parents demonstrate not only that they did not want the child but that the child ... remains an uncherished, unwanted burden so as to minimize the offset to which the defendant is entitled. [Cockrum v. Baumgartner, 95 Ill.2d 193, 202 , 69 Ill.Dec. 168, 173 , 447 N.E.2d 385, 390 (1983) (emphasis added).]”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“`Every injury has ramifying consequences, like the ripplings of the waters, without end. The problem for the law is to limit the legal consequences of wrongs to a controllable degree.'”
3 later decisions 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.