It may be Christmas and Hanukkah season, but I’ve got a Supreme Court ghost story to tell. It comes from Justice Antonin ...

A bedrock legal doctrine called "stare decisis," Latin for "to stand by things decided," calls upon courts to respect their prior precedents when resolving new cases on similar matters. A basic tenet ...

Editor’s Note: On Tuesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft of a decision that would appear to place the future of abortion rights, and in ...

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 ...

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 ...

WASHINGTON (CN) — Rulings from the Supreme Court hold enormous weight because unlike bills from Congress or executive orders from the president, their effectiveness is not dependent on the current ...

Which legal decisions can be used as a precedent, and which cannot? The question was raised in a piece in The New York Times this week about the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 election. Legal ...

The Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for a second full day of testimony from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Roberts on Tuesday said he generally believes in following precedent. He was also ...

Although Supreme Court justices are by no means bound by their past decisions, they often respect them, for a variety of reasons. Justice Elena Kagan offered her reasons for remaining faithful to ...

As soon as he was elected president, Donald Trump and his supporters began to target Roe v. Wade. “The judges will be pro-life,” Trump declared on “60 Minutes” when asked about potential nominees. In ...

Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all stressed the importance of precedence during Senate confirmation hearings. Each said Roe v. Wade is a precedent, but ...

Separate opinions in a case show nine justices pursuing agendas far removed from the dispute at hand. By Linda Greenhouse Contributing Opinion Writer The country wasn’t exactly holding its breath for ...