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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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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2answers
75 views
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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1answer
50 views
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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1answer
142 views
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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90 views
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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2answers
172 views
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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96 views
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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177 views
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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4answers
106 views
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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1answer
46 views
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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1answer
66 views
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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116 views
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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1answer
58 views
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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1answer
82 views
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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130 views
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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1answer
83 views
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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199 views
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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3answers
419 views
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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1answer
346 views
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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2answers
536 views
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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1answer
181 views
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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1answer
108 views
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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270 views
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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1answer
192 views
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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2answers
2k views
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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3answers
233 views
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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1answer
32 views
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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2answers
621 views
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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1answer
853 views
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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1answer
82 views
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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198 views
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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3answers
2k views
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 ...
