Precedent in the United States Supreme Court

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Introduction

   • Christopher J. Peters

   Pages 1-17

3. The Dialectic of Stare Decisis Doctrine

   • Colin Starger

   Pages 19-45

4. Did Casey Strike Out? Following and Overruling Constitutional Precedents in the Supreme Court

   • Larry Alexander

   Pages 47-61

5. An Epistemic Defense of Precedent

   • Deborah Hellman

   Pages 63-76

6. Private-Rights Litigation and the Normative Foundations of Durable Constitutional Precedent

   • Maxwell L. Stearns

   Pages 77-100

7. Group Formation and Precedent

   • Neal Devins

   Pages 101-119

8. Stare Decisis and the Selection Effect

   • Frederick Schauer

   Pages 121-133

9. Methodological Stare Decisis and Constitutional Interpretation

   • Chad M. Oldfather

   Pages 135-157

10. Constitutional Method and the Path of Precedent

    • Randy J. Kozel

    Pages 159-188

11. Originalism, Stare Decisis, and Constitutional Authority

    • Christopher J. Peters

    Pages 189-226

12. Back Matter

    Pages 227-231

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This volume presents a variety of both normative and descriptive perspectives on the use of precedent by the United States Supreme Court. It brings together a diverse group of American legal scholars, some of whom have been influenced by the Segal/Spaeth "attitudinal" model and some of whom have not. The group of contributors includes legal theorists and empiricists, constitutional lawyers and legal generalists, leading authorities and up-and-coming scholars. The book addresses questions such as how the Court establishes durable precedent, how the Court decides to overrule precedent, the effects of precedent on case selection, the scope of constitutional precedent, the influence of concurrences and dissents, and the normative foundations of constitutional precedent. Most of these questions have been addressed by the Court itself only obliquely, if at all. The volume will be valuable to readers both in the United States and abroad, particularly in light of ongoing debates over the role of precedent in civil-law nations and emerging legal systems.

• Barriers to Group Formation on the Supreme Court
• Constitutional Interpretation
• Constitutional Stare Decisis as Dispute Resolution
• Decisis and the Selection Effect
• Dialectic of Stare Decisis Doctrine
• Due Process Clause in the US Constitution
• Due Process Clause of the Constitution
• Epistemic Defense of Precedent
• Group Formation and Precedent
• Judicial Precedent in the USA
• Methodological Stare Decisis
• Normative Foundations Of Constitutional Precedent
• Normative Foundations of Constitutional Precedent
• Normative Foundations of Constitutional Precedent
• Overruling Constitutional Precedents
• Overruling Constitutional Precedents
• Precedent on the United States Supreme Court
• Private Rights Litigation
• Scope of Constitutional Precedent
• United States Supreme Court
• onstitutional Precedent and The Adjudicative Process

• School of Law, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, USA

  Christopher J. Peters

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