Remarks and observations concerning American law and cultural studies as it relates to courses taken by students in the University of Osnabrück's and University of Münster's foreign law programs.
Matt LeMieux
03 December 2015
Disappearing Precedent
The Marshall Project recently ran a very informative news piece on its website about unpublished opinions. As students in my courses learn, not all court decisions turn into precedent. Of course, only the highest courts create binding precedent, and even their decisions can only be precedent if they are published. A court may choose to "unpublish" its opinion and in so doing the opinion will not be treated by future courts as precedent. At least most of the times. Those interested in understanding this oddity of American common law should read this short and informative article.