CONSTITUTIONAL PRECEDENT IN THE US SUPREME COURT REASONING

Precedent or stare decisis is a central feature of common law systems, such as in the United States. Precedent in the United States is employed as an interpretive tool to guide judicial interpretations of legal texts, but it is considered part of the law and binding not only on the parties to the case but also on other courts and governmental bodies. This article examines the role of constitutional precedent in the US Supreme Court reasoning. It describes what precedent is, its justification, and how it operates as a part of the law to constrain or bind judicial decision making. The article also examines situations when constitutional precedent has been rejected and why, and how that pattern of rejection has changed over time. Overall, the purpose of the article is to familiarize students and scholars with the role the constitutional precedent occupies in the US legal reasoning and law.