Current Events: Judicial Precedent

Civics Learning Project will be dedicating April’s Current Events posts to one major topic: the United States Supreme Court. In subsequent weeks, we will examine cases currently before, or recently decided by the Supreme Court, but before we do, we want to take time to examine the role of precedent in the U.S. legal system.

Precedent is a word commonly used outside of law referring to something that has come before that serves as an example to follow. In the U.S. judicial system, precedent, also known as stare decisis, refers to a case ruling that is considered as authority for determining subsequent cases involving similar fact patterns or legal issues. While legislative branches make laws, and executive branches carry out and enforce those laws, the judicial system is tasked with the interpretation of the law. In the U.S., the judicial system serves to determine the meaning of a law, as it relates to the facts presented in a case and how the law or laws in question apply to those specific circumstances. Typically, judges begin their interpretation by referring to prior cases and case law to understand the application of the law in earlier cases.

According to many, stare decisis provides much of the basis for U.S. law and its judicial interpretation. Advocates for its application, following how prior cases were decided, hold that such a system helps provide predictability to a society and its agreed upon rules. Advocates go on to note that people are assured that one person would be treated as any other person if precedent is followed. In Federalist Paper #78, Alexander Hamilton spelled out the importance of precedent: “To avoid an arbitrary discretion in the courts, it is indispensable that they should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty in every particular case that comes before them.”

While precedent has been integral in U.S. legal history, it has not always been applied. As American society has changed, so to has the Supreme Courts’ decisions on issues that already had clear judicial track records. In these cases, precedent was overruled and the courts took new directions. Examples include the United States Supreme Court decision to famously overrule the concept of ‘separate but equal’ in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which threw out the precedent set in a previous Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson.

This week’s Current Events resources examine the concept of judicial precedent in United States and the discussions around its adherence and disregard. The resources shared provide information and context to the courts decision making process, the vacatur (setting aside) of lower court rulings and how precedent’s role has helped shape society.

Essential Questions, Vocabulary & Extend the Resources:

What is judicial precedent?
What are the societal pros and cons of an independent judiciary?
Historically, how have judges, especially Supreme Court Justices, determined their rulings on cases?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of stare decisis?
What is vacatur?
In your opinion, what circumstances should lead to a court abandoning judicial precedent when making a ruling?
In your opinion, when should a court use vacatur?