9 canonical passages across 6 cases, quoted by 344 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc..
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. Anchor | green | “if a precedent of this court has direct application in a case, yet appears to rest on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions, the court of appeals should follow the case which directly controls, leaving to this court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions.” | 178 |
| 2 | Hohn v. United States | green | “our decisions remain binding precedent until we see fit to reconsider them, regardless of whether subsequent cases have raised doubts about their continuing vitality.” | 37 |
| 3 | State Oil Co. v. Khan | red | “it is this court's prerogative alone to overrule one of its precedents.” | 35 |
| 4 | Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. | green | “if a precedent of the supreme court has direct application in a case, yet appears to rest on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions, the court of appeals should follow the case which directly controls, leaving to the supreme court the prerogative of overruling its own …” | 27 |
| 5 | State Oil Co. v. Khan | red | “it is the supreme court's prerogative alone to overrule one of its precedents.” | 23 |
| 6 | Agostini v. Felton | green | “we do not acknowledge, and we do not hold, that other courts should conclude our more recent cases have, by implication, overruled an earlier precedent.” | 21 |
| 7 | Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. | green | “the prerogative of overruling its own decisions.” | 16 |
| 8 | United States v. Hatter | green | “it is this court's prerogative alone to overrule one of its precedents.” | 4 |
| 9 | Roberts v. State of Rhode Islan | green | “the deterrent rationale for the bell search is simply less relevant given the essentially unplanned nature of an arrest and subsequent incarceration.” | 3 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.