Case Citator › Bell v. City of Milwaukee

Bell v. City of Milwaukee

Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.

Overruled in part
Court
Seventh Circuit
Citation
746 F.2d 1205
Decided
Confirmed treatments
3
Flagged citations read
66 of 66
Citing cases (total)
66
Treatment dates
1996–2005
Overruled in part
A reviewed court has overruled part of this case’s holding. Bell v. City of Milwaukee has been overruled in part. The Seventh Circuit later rejected Bell's rule allowing a parent to recover under § 1983 for the incidental loss of companionship with an adult child.
More on how this was screened

Two other courts declined to follow Bell on separate questions, as listed below. All 66 flagged citations have been read; Bell's other holdings were not overruled by these decisions.

Every treatment on this page is written from the citing opinion itself, with a verbatim quote, never copied from a commercial citator. A citation flagged by our screen but not shown here was read and found not to weaken this case.

66 later cases cite Bell v. City of Milwaukee; 66 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.

Relying on Bell v. City of Milwaukee?

This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.

Treatments

Overruled in part

  • The Seventh Circuit overruled Bell's recognition of a parent's constitutional claim for the incidental loss of companionship with an adult child.

    Russ v. Watts · Seventh Circuit · filed

    We therefore overrule our decision in Bell insofar as it recognized a constitutional right to recover for the loss of the companionship of an adult child when that relationship is terminated as an incidental result of state action.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Declined to follow

  • The California Court of Appeal rejected Bell's reasoning that § 1983 required an estate to recover damages for loss of life despite the state's survival law.

    Garcia v. Superior Court · California Court of Appeal · filed

    We respectfully decline to follow the reasoning of Guyton and Bell.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The D.C. Circuit rejected Bell's reasoning that a parent has a constitutional liberty interest in the companionship of an independent adult child.

    Butera v. District of Columbia · D.C. Circuit · filed

    Neither do we think the Supreme Court cases and other authorities on which Bell relied can be read to support Terry Butera's constitutional claim.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Does this case still carry your argument?

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