Compton v. Gilmore’s Empirical Analysis
1977
Citation profile
48 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 48 later decisions — most recently November 2020 · most notably Pater v. Pater (1992), Pope v. Intermountain Gas Co. (1982)
48 state decisions — followed in 15 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 United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co. · United States v. Forness · Herbert J. Roberts v. Norman M. Ross, Jr · Featherstone v. Barash · Mora v. Martinez
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 48 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The courts are reluctant ... to interfere with the religious faith and training of children where the conflicting religious preferences of the parents are in no way detrimental to the welfare of the child. The obvious reason for such a policy of impartiality regarding religious beliefs is that, constitutionally, American courts are forbidden from interfering with religious freedoms or to take steps preferring one religion over another. (Citations omitted.) * * * * * * “Thus, the rule appears to be well established that the courts should maintain an attitude of strict impartiality between religions and should not disqualify any applicant for custody or restrain any person having custody or visitation rights from taking the children to a particular church, except where there is a clear and affirmative showing that the conflicting religious beliefs affect the general welfare of the child. “We recognize the general rule that in child custody cases the trial court, in furtherance of the best interests and welfare of the child, is vested with a wide latitude of discretion and in the absence of a manifest abuse of discretion in awarding the custody and control of minor children, its judgment will not be disturbed on appeal.... However, where the trial court does not follow the generally established rule of noninterfer ence in religious matters in child custody cases without an affirmative showing of compelling reasons for such action, we are of the opinion that this is tantamount t”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage“... kindly prepare findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of the foregoing decision, together with judgment.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“Thus, the rule appears to be well established that the courts should maintain an attitude of strict impartiality between religions and should not disqualify any applicant for custody or restrain any person having custody or visitation from taking the children to a particular church, except where there is a clear and affirmative showing that the conflicting religious beliefs affect the general welfare of the child. We recognize the general rule that in child custody cases the trial court, in furtherance of the best interests and welfare of the child, is vested with a wide latitude of discretion and in the absence of manifest abuse of discretion in awarding the custody and control of minor children, its judgment will not be disturbed on appeal. . . . However, where the trial court does not follow the generally established rule of noninterference in religious matters in child custody cases without an affirmative showing of compelling reasons for such action, we are of the opinion that this is tantamount to a manifest abuse of discretion.”
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.