Precedent in the United States Supreme Court
Christopher J. Peters - Springer Netherlands, 2014
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.
