Graduation Year
2020
Date of Submission
5-2020
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Reader 1
Professor George Thomas
Reader 2
Professor Shanna Rose
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2020 Clare M Burgess
Abstract
In this thesis, I analyze the reasons that Supreme Court overturns precedent, and how, if at all, does the doctrine of stare decisis impact those decisions. The Supreme Court’s decisions are often politicized and viewed as a result of the Supreme Court Justices’ ideological views. Simply, they abide by precedents they agree with and abandon ones they do not. While the impact of ideology on Supreme Court decisions is unclear, I find that the doctrine of stare decisis plays an important role in their jurisprudence. In fact, the doctrine of stare decisis has increasingly dominated cases that reverse a prior Supreme Court decision. Modern iterations of the Supreme Court discuss stare decisis in more detail than their predecessors. The Supreme Court’s treatment of precedent varies over time; however, its general reverence for stare decisis will likely persist in the future.
Recommended Citation
Burgess, Clare, "Principle or Partisanship: An Analysis of the Role Stare Decisis Plays in Supreme Court Jurisprudence" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2416.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2416
