Question

Discuss how the concept of stare decisis is relevant to a legal research assignment.

Answer 1

The doctrine of stare decisis literally translates into “let the decision stand.” This doctrine goes hand in hand with the principle of judicial restraint, which believes that federal court judges must not exercise their power beyond a certain limit, and interpret the constitution and its law based on past trials and rulings. Judicial activism promotes the use of a court’s power to change the interpretation of the law based on modern times, while still upholding the US Constitution.

Plessy v. Ferguson

According to a Louisiana law during the late 1890s, African Americans were not allowed to travel in white railway carriages. Homer Plessy, an African American, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison for violating this law because he was caught traveling in a carriage meant for caucasians. Hon. John H. Ferguson was the judge who announced Plessy’s sentence. Later, Plessy filed charges against Ferguson claiming that the law that segregated people based on color (race) was in direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This clause gives equal rights to all citizens, regardless of their race. However, the Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled against Plessy. The argument was that as per the clause, all citizens enjoy equal civil rights (voting), but not necessarily equal social rights (choice of traveling).

Brown v. Board of Education

In 1954, Oliver Brown, the parent of an African American child, filed a case against the Topeka, Kansas school board because the school had denied the child admission on the basis of racial segregation. After failing to convince a district court, Brown took his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown, stating that racial segregation did violate a citizen’s Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Based on the landmark ruling seen in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the doctrine of racial segregation seen in the Plessy v. Ferguson case was overruled. This overruling was an example of judicial activism, whereby the Supreme Court used its power to pass a different (and correct) verdict despite a previous ruling in favor of racial segregation.

Step-by-step explanation:

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Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Stare decisis is a legal principle which dictates that courts cannot disregard a determined standard and must uphold prior decisions when ruling on future cases. S tare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent. It literally means "to stand by decided matters". The doctrine of precedent refers to the doctrine that the court is to follow judicial decisions in earlier cases, when the same questions or points are raised before it in subsequent matters. The precedent has great authority but in certain circumstances, courts are bound by previously decided cases. Thus, what a court really does is to apply principles or decision laid down in the past