Questions tagged [precedent]
Also known as "stare decisis:" the legal principle that any cases with the same facts should have the same judicial outcome.
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When an old Supreme Court ruling is overturned by a new one, how is this explained philosophically?
When a new SCOTUS ruling overturns an old one, what is the philosophical difference between the two rulings? It seems to me that there are two possible explanations; either the old ruling was a ...
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Are there federal or international law equivalents of the Maxims of Jurisprudence of the California Civil Code?
Specifically, does Civ. Code § 3517 "No one can take advantage of his own wrong" have such an equivalent?
Any others are welcome or anything similar.
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Isn't the rule of precedent inherently flawed in the adversarial system?
In the adversarial system, who wins in a court proceeding basically depends on how the parties present and argue their cases. That is, the same facts and evidence could yield diametrically opposite ...
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When courts set a new precedent, are the negatively impacted parties given any leniency?
Suppose the courts set a precedent by interpreting ambiguous law in a way that negatively affects one of the parties of a case. When deciding on remedies, damages, or a criminal sentence, will courts ...
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During your trial, the Supreme Court of the US agrees to hear an appeal of a relevant precedent case. What is the law that you are presumed to know?
Imagine a court case in progress in the USA, specifically a case at the first level of the courts (i.e. it is a district court case and the court is a trial court, not any kind of appeal court). ...
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213 views
Does the XR vs. Shell case create precedent for environmental activism being necessary?
Six Extinction Rebellion activists were charged with criminal damage to the Shell HQ building in London’s Waterloo in April 2019. All admitted the actions, and five of the six relied on the defense ...
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Do the observations of constitutional courts that are not necessary for deciding the case form binding precedents for lower courts?
My question concerns the principle that constitutional courts should not decide what is not strictly necessary for deciding the case at hand. What happens if, say the Supreme Court, made well reasoned ...
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Technical basis for the binding nature of precedent or stare decisis
I understand that US district courts are generally required to follow precedent set by the appeals court directly superior to the district court, while opinions of other appeals courts may be ...
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Circuit court misquotes supreme court: what precedent does district court follow?
In United States v. Bowman (1922), the Supreme Court ruled that the presumption against the extraterritorial application of a statute does not apply to statutes that are "not logically dependent ...
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How/where to find precedent civil cases (Canada)?
I am interested in learning about some civil cases that happened in the past. What are the resources that one could use to find thematic breakdown of such cases? For example, where would I be able to ...
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Has punishment for precedent-setting decisions ever been recognized as retroactive enforcement of a new law?
When a court sets a precedent, it is effectively creating a law (case law). This means that the law (or a newly clear interpretation that can only now be relied on) did not exist prior to the courts ...
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How are affirmative defenses of duress and necessity treated in U.S. law?
Duress and Necessity are two common law "affirmative defenses" that can be argued for acquittal of a criminal charge.
However I can't find clear law or precedent for either in the United ...
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How is it that Law may work by "legal precedent" but then it also "goes with the current culture and ethics"?
Since Legal Precedent is important or crucial, but at the same time the current culture or ethics also can play an important role, then how do they work together -- won't they conflict with each other?...
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Has anybody else taken legal action against California's "only 26 letters in names" rule?
This is inspired by another question:
Is Elon Musk's child name valid in California?
The accepted answer quotes the a handbook from California Department of Public Health, Vital Records, p. 112:
...
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Binding precedent based on reasoning or conclusion
Suppose a circuit panel publishes the following decision:
Statute A applies to individuals in situation B, because X implies Y.
Are the trial judges within this circuit bound to the statement that ...
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Trying to get sued?
Are there any situations in which some party would seek to be sued?
The thought came up while I was looking at some law related to copyright and public domain where it was noted that some parts were ...
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Does a U.S. District judge's decision set binding horizontal precedent in the same district?
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 ...
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Can "positive news coverage" be considered a "thing of value" in a bribery case? Has it ever been prosecuted in the US before?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing several corruption charges. It's a complex, multi-faceted case, but at the heart of the indictment, is a bribery charge involving "positive news ...
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Is there a precedent for a lawsuit against someone for making a decision that goes against public health?
So I live in a city that has these organizers who are newspaper owners that are about to go forward with a huge event that brings people from all over despite the fact that I just saw the coronavirus ...
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Is there any legal recourse for a resident who believes their city is committing financial nonfeasance?
My city has entered into an agreement to provide fire service to a neighboring city of 1000 people for $10,000 yearly. This rate is less than 1/20th what my city pays.
I've made efforts to convince ...
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Are open letters protected by freedom of speech? Any court precedents?
I would like to know if there is legal precedent protecting the freedom of speech in distributing an open letter or something similar.
A friend owns a unit in a condominium, and since day one she has ...
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Doesn't the use of precedent constitute a bandwagon fallacy?
I see widespread use of precedent in courts across the world.
In essence, to me this appears as follows:
"Just because some other people responded to x with y, then any time we see something ...
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Are legal precedents or tests ever created outside of a traditional trial?
Layperson question ahead.
My understanding is that laws as passed by federal, state, and local bodies are often open to interpretation. When a question arises during a trial, a judge's logic and ...
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What is the functional effect of overturning precedent?
Background
On occasion, the Supreme Court overturns precedents in part or in whole. This means that a previous ruling (or part of a ruling) from the supreme court that once had stare decesis no ...
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Given Shapiro v. Thompson, why are US states allowed to charge higher tuition fees to new residents?
If I'm reading Shapiro v. Thompson correctly, US states are not allowed to require a period of residence before providing welfare benefits to US citizens. But doesn't this mean that charging different ...
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Legal precedent/history for the supposed charges against Julian Assange
It has been reported in the media (e.g. RT, BBC) that the US has requested the extradition of Julian Assange from the UK to stand trial for the charge of conspiracy to intrude into a computer system (...
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Was anyone held liable/accountable in the 2018 Hawaii False Missile Alert?
On January 13, 2018, with belligerent threats and nuclear tensions between the US and North Korea on a knife edge, civil authorities in the US state of Hawaii sent out an alert to all cell phones, ...
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Legal precedent vs. statutory law
Following the Roe v. Wade decision, abortion became legal in all fifty states. However, Congress never had to pass a law or constitutional amendment defending abortion rights.
In what types of cases ...
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Does statute take precedence over case law (in the US)?
Hypothetical situation:
An US court decides a case for which there is no statute nor previous court decision (precedent) which would provide how the case should be decided (resolved). So the court (...
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Ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act
What does Friday's ruling mean? I thought the Supreme Court already upheld the individual mandate and most aspects of the law.
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Legal precedent paradox
Suppose that five people (A, B, C, D, and E) are being tried for breaking some law. What B did is slightly worse than what A did, what C did is slightly worse than what B did, and so on...
Suppose ...
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Is citing precedent official in the US court system?
Precedent from other similar cases is often cited in US court cases because the US follows stare decisis in keeping rulings consistent. However, is this based on how the courts tend to run ...
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Employee Handbook conflicts with State Law, Which Supersedes Which?
Under my State's (Colorado) law, C.R.S. § 8-4-101(14)(a)(III) states,
Vacation pay earned in accordance with the terms of any agreement. If an employer provides paid vacation for an employee, the ...
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Have Supreme Court cases with multiple subsequent reaffirming decisions been overturned?
Suppose Supreme Court decision A is subsequently reaffirmed in decisions B and C. Have there ever been situations where the court later overturns A, despite B and C?
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Can a sitting president of the United States be indicted by one of the states?
Some lawyers say a sitting president cannot be indicted, other lawyers disagree. Apart from that, does what they are saying apply to both federal and state indictments? I mean could the president be ...
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Is there any constitutional precedent or laws against bills of “anti"-attainder?
In South Dakota an attorney for adults sexually abused as children by priests and nuns contended that the state legislature passed a statute of limitations (in approximately 2010) preventing lawsuits ...
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How do concepts like intent, discrimination, and bias apply to an Artificial Intelligence agent?
Background
I work at a financial institution in the United States and have been researching the regulatory impacts of Artificial Intelligence recently - specifically the simple purpose-specific ...
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After US Supreme Court overturns precedent, are old cases revisited?
Hypothetical scenario:
1950: government uses method A to convict John Doe of crime B, SCOTUS upholds conviction
1990: government uses method A to convict Jake Smith of crime B
2000: government ...
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What is the significance of dissenting opinions in appellate court decisions?
Appellate courts often hear cases en banc and decide them by simple majority of the judges on the bench. The majority will typically sign a single "per curiam" decision, which constitutes the ...
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How could Korematsu be overturned?
The US Supreme Court Case Korematsu (1944) ruled that the internment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry was legal out of concern for national security. This case is now generally regarded as a ...
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Legal remedies if a lower court ignores stare decisis?
Let's say hypothetically that lower courts en masse decide to ignore Supreme Court decisions.
What legal alternatives are available to citizens if lower courts "Go rogue" and decides to ignore a ...
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What happens to struck-down laws when the decision(s) that killed them are reversed?
If a law is struck-down as unconstitutional, but all the precedent used to find it unconstitutional gets reversed; what becomes of the law?
Is it totally dead, needing be passed anew? Can the ...
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I can't read this cover of a precedent case
Embarrassing, I have a very simple question. I can't interprete this cover of a precedent case because I am an English learner. Please give me your help. In the middle of the image I attached below,
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Persuasive authority using other jurisdiction's opinions
I'm an English teacher who teaches legal English to foreign students using the UK legal system for context. I was checking the definition of 'Persuasive authority' using TransLegals' dictionary and ...
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In UK law how binding is judge precedent, and when can it be ignored?
Once a court has set precedent, can it ever be ignored? Is it legally binding, or just very persuasive advice? Are there any examples of a judge ignoring precedent without setting new precedent, or is ...
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Are decided legal cases reviewed when precedent cases are overturned?
When the outcome of a case is largely decided by a precedent case, what happens to the cases citing it?
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Timing of precedent setting: when exactly do precedents take "effect"?
When a high court rules on a matter, when does the precedent take effect? Say a case is in progress in a lower court which asks the same question as what was just decided on the same day in the high ...
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How can a court avoid creating precedent?
There are a number of ways in which a judge may avoid following precedent – overturning or distinguishing a previous ruling, for instance.
However, is there any way for a court (particularly a ...
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What is stare decisis?
I know in general that stare decisis effectively means that once a court rules on a law that other courts can use that decision when considering their cases. But why is that the case, how is it ...
