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Stare Decisis Doctrine Explained

Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent when making decisions. It means "to stand by things decided" in Latin. Under stare decisis, if a previous court with binding authority has ruled on the same or a closely related issue, the court will make its decision consistent with the previous ruling. Stare decisis promotes consistency, predictability, and integrity in the legal system. It operates both horizontally, where a court follows its own prior decisions, and vertically, where lower courts follow higher court rulings. While courts generally follow precedent, it is not absolute, and the Supreme Court may overrule prior decisions if they are unworkable or badly reasoned, especially in constitutional cases.

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34 views3 pages

Stare Decisis Doctrine Explained

Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent when making decisions. It means "to stand by things decided" in Latin. Under stare decisis, if a previous court with binding authority has ruled on the same or a closely related issue, the court will make its decision consistent with the previous ruling. Stare decisis promotes consistency, predictability, and integrity in the legal system. It operates both horizontally, where a court follows its own prior decisions, and vertically, where lower courts follow higher court rulings. While courts generally follow precedent, it is not absolute, and the Supreme Court may overrule prior decisions if they are unworkable or badly reasoned, especially in constitutional cases.

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Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent in making
their decisions. Stare decisis means “to stand by things decided” in Latin.
When a court faces a legal argument, if a previous court has ruled on the same
or a closely related issue, then the court will make their decision in alignment
with the previous court’s decision. The previous deciding-court must
have binding authority over the court; otherwise, the previous decision is
merely persuasive authority. In Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises, the U.S. Supreme
Court described the rationale behind stare decisis as “promot[ing] the
evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles,
foster[ing] reliance on judicial decisions, and contribut[ing] to the actual and
perceived integrity of the judicial process.”
The doctrine operates both horizontally and vertically. Horizontal stare
decisis refers to a court adhering to its own precedent. For example, if the
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals adhered to the ruling of a previous Seventh
Circuit Court of Appeals case, that would be horizontal stare decisis. A court
engages in vertical stare decisis when it applies precedent from a higher court.
For example, if the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals adhered to a previous ruling
from the U.S. Supreme Court, that would be vertical stare decisis. Or,
additionally, if the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York
adhered to a previous ruling by the Second Circuit, that would be vertical stare
decisis.
Although courts seldom overrule precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court in Seminole
Tribe of Florida v. Florida explained that stare decisis is not an “inexorable
command.” When prior decisions are “unworkable or are badly reasoned,” then
the Supreme Court may not follow precedent, and this is “particularly true in
constitutional cases.” For example, in deciding Brown v. Board of Education, the
U.S. Supreme Court explicitly renounced Plessy v. Ferguson, thereby refusing to
apply the doctrine of stare decisis.
[Last updated in December of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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