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[10] [11] [3] [12] [13] One example in the Supreme Court's history is the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. . A passing remark from Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite , recorded by the court reporter before oral argument, now forms the basis for the doctrine that juristic persons are entitled to protection under the ...
A dissenting opinion does not create binding precedent nor does it become a part of case law, though they can sometimes be cited as a form of persuasive authority in subsequent cases when arguing that the court's holding should be limited or overturned. In some cases, a previous dissent is used to spur a change in the law, and a later case may ...
Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. [1] [2] [3] Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of stare decisis ("to stand by things decided"), where past judicial decisions serve as case law to guide future rulings, thus promoting consistency and predictability.
The doctrine of precedent developed during the 12th and 13th centuries, [52] as the collective judicial decisions that were based in tradition, custom and precedent. [53] The form of reasoning used in common law is known as casuistry or case-based reasoning.
Only the reason for the decision of the majority can constitute a binding precedent, but all may be cited as persuasive, or their reasoning may be adopted in an argument. Apart from the rules of procedure for precedent, the weight given to any reported judgment may depend on the reputation of both the reporter and the judges. [7]
A simple concurring opinion arises when a judge joins the decision of the court but has something to add. Concurring in judgment means that the judge agrees with the majority decision (the case's ultimate outcome in terms of who wins and who loses) but not with the reasoning of the majority opinion (why one side wins and the other loses).
Persuasive definitions are not the only way of modifying meaning – one may also modify meaning simply by linking two properties together (Douglas Walton calls it a "Verbal Classification"), and then attribute a new property to given object ("if something is prosecuted, then it is morally wrong, therefore racism is morally wrong").
Where a wide new class of distinguished cases is made, such as distinguishing all cases on privity of contract law in the establishment of the court-made tort of negligence or a case turns on too narrow a set of variations in facts ("turns on its own facts") compared to the routinely applicable precedent(s), such decisions are at high risk of being successfully overruled (by higher courts) on ...