Glossary
Civil Law Systems
Legal systems, primarily found in continental Europe, where codified statutes and comprehensive legal codes are the primary source of law, and judicial precedent holds less binding authority.
Example:
In a civil law system, a judge's primary role is to apply the specific articles of a legal code to a case, with less emphasis on previous court decisions as binding authority.
Common Law Systems
Legal systems, such as those in the US and UK, where judicial decisions and precedents play a central role in shaping the law, with judges bound by higher court rulings.
Example:
In a common law system, a judge deciding a contract dispute will heavily rely on past court decisions regarding contract interpretation, rather than solely on codified statutes.
Conflicting Precedents (Lower Courts)
A situation where lower courts face contradictory legal guidelines from different higher courts or within their own jurisdiction, requiring them to determine which precedent to follow.
Example:
A federal district court might encounter conflicting precedents if a circuit court in a different region has ruled differently on a similar issue, forcing the district court to adhere to its own circuit's ruling.
Distinguishing Cases
A method courts use to avoid applying a precedent by identifying significant factual differences between the current case and the previous one, making the precedent inapplicable.
Example:
A court might distinguish a case about online harassment from a precedent on physical assault, arguing the unique nature of digital communication warrants a different legal approach.
Judicial Ideology
The political, legal, or philosophical views of a judge or justice that can influence their interpretation of the law and their approach to applying or departing from precedent.
Example:
A justice with a conservative judicial ideology might prioritize states' rights, leading them to interpret federal laws more narrowly than a liberal justice.
Legal Reasoning
The process by which courts analyze the facts and rationale of previous decisions, consider broader context, and evaluate potential impacts to decide whether to follow or depart from precedent.
Example:
When deciding if a new technology falls under existing privacy laws, judges engage in legal reasoning to interpret how past rulings apply to novel situations.
Overruling Precedent
The power of a higher court, particularly the Supreme Court, to invalidate a previous legal decision, thereby establishing a new precedent in its place.
Example:
The landmark Brown v. Board of Education case famously involved the Supreme Court overruling precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson, ending 'separate but equal' in education.
Precedent
A previous legal decision that serves as a guide for future cases with similar issues, creating consistency and predictability in the legal system.
Example:
When a judge decides a new case about free speech, they will look to past Supreme Court rulings like Tinker v. Des Moines as a precedent to guide their decision.
Presidential Appointments (Supreme Court)
The process by which the President nominates individuals to serve on the Supreme Court, which can significantly impact the Court's ideological balance and its future approach to legal precedents.
Example:
President Trump's presidential appointments of conservative justices shifted the Supreme Court's ideological majority, influencing subsequent rulings on issues like abortion and gun rights.
Stare Decisis
The legal principle (Latin for 'to stand by things decided') that courts should generally follow precedents set by earlier, similar cases, promoting stability and fairness in the law.
Example:
The Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade stood for decades due to stare decisis, meaning subsequent courts generally upheld the right to abortion based on that prior ruling.