case
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 219 U.S. 346 - David Muskrat v. · 1911Most cited · 1,474 citing opinions
judicial proceeding
A 'case' was defined by Mr. Chief Justice Marshall as early as the leading case of Marbury v. Madison... to be a suit instituted according to the regular course of judicial procedure.
How the Supreme Court has restated “case”
Each Supreme Court definition of “case,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “case”
Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “case” — 2,697 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 5 definitions, chronological · 1907–1945
- ORIGINAL
It is established and admitted that this fee is not earned (because there is not a 'case' within the meaning of the section) unless there be an arrest and an examination.
under Rev. Stat. § 1986
Whenever the law provides a remedy enforceable in the courts according to the regular course of legal procedure, and that remedy is pursued, there arises a case within the meaning of the Constitution, whether the subject of the litigation be property or status.
constitutional meaning
While ordinarily a case or judicial controversy results in a judgment requiring award of process of execution to carry it into effect, such relief is not an indispensable adjunct to the exercise of the judicial function. … Whenever the law provides a remedy enforceable in the courts according to the regular course of legal procedure, and that remedy is pursued, there arises a case within the meaning of the Constitution, whether the subject of the litigation be property or status.
constitutional
A case arises, within the meaning of the Constitution, when any question respecting the Constitution, treatise or laws of the United States has assumed 'such a form that the judicial power is capable of acting on it.
Article III