The idea of precedent in the common law system of adjudication is that judges should follow previously decided cases if the facts are of adequate similarity. Respect for decisions once made is seen as one of the keys to preserving an independent judiciary as well as one of the ways the public can respect the judiciary’s function as a guardian of rights (Farber, 2005). The argument is that ignoring or not considering precedents in cases with similar facts promotes the idea that the Constitution is merely something which five justices say it is; they can decide anything they like, and therefore, the Constitution cannot be relied upon as a document that stipulates the laws that govern people. However, I believe precedents can be overturned or overruled, especially if they were erroneous or do not address the modern progress or realities.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages, consequently overturning a precedent that had termed the unions as illegal in most states. Terming same-sex marriages as illegal was not a sound decision because it denied some sections of the society their rights, which the Constitution needed to protect. A second example is the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education case where the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1896 Plessy v . Ferguson case that legalized segregation in schools (Williams, 2004). In the 1954 case, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal, therefore overruling a precedent that fostered discrimination. In these two examples, the precedents were erroneous, and with time, they were not relevant to the needs and demands of the society. Therefore, precedents can be overruled if they have errors and if they do not meet the demands of societies over time.
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References
Farber, D. A. (2005). The rule of law and the law of precedents. Minnesota Law Review , 90 (5) , 1173-1203. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254562081_The_Rule_of_Law_and_the_Law_of_Precedents
Williams, N. G. (2004). Brown v. Board of Education Fifty Years Later: What Makes for Greatness in a Legal Opinion. Loyola University Chicago Law Journal , 36 (1) , 177-199. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268429706.pdf
