A better way to think of it, as the philosopher Ronald Dworkin put it, is as a “gravitational pull” on judicial reasoning.

Legal precedent comes from court decisions where judges are asked to interpret the law, and once a court rules on an issue, legal precedent becomes the law. This means that legal precedent and ...

It is a central principle of law: Courts are supposed to follow earlier decisions – precedent – to resolve current disputes. But it’s inevitable that sometimes, the precedent has to go, and a court ...

When the Supreme Court overrules an important precedent, it needs good reasons. Overruling Roe v. Wade, it will claim the most persuasive reason of all: truth. Roe, it will assert, got the law wrong.

Legal scholar Adam Feldman tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how the Supreme Court sometimes overturns precedent without explicitly calling an earlier decision invalid.

IN THE RECENT decision of the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the opinions cited a myriad of precedents, or ...

The first Monday in October commences a new United States Supreme Court term. This term, the court will hear many significant cases. However, the Supreme Court’s own reputation will also be up for ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. It is a central principle of law: Courts, including the Supreme Court, are supposed to follow earlier decisions – precedent – to ...

Everybody seems to be using the word “precedent” right now. The word “precedent” has a technical legal meaning and a common one. Legally, it is a term of art that refers to a rule established in a ...

The prior-panel-precedent rule allows federal appellate courts to avoid considering “difficult arguments” and “to do its work with fewer judges more quickly,” said a legal scholar who is not involved ...