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Suppose a U.S. district judge in, say, the Southern district of New York writes a decision regarding some legal procedure. Can a different U.S. district judge in the same district write a contradictory decision? Or must he/she respect the precedent of the previous decision even though it did not come from a higher court?

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Precedent at the same level in the court hierarchy’s non-binding

Only lower courts are bound.

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  • But an exception to this might be "law of the Circuit"? – Dion Mar 12 at 12:45
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    Federal circuit courts can override their own precedent – Dale M♦ Mar 13 at 1:32
  • @DaleM : I wonder if your comment above should be a part of the answer. – Michael Hardy Jun 19 at 23:51

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