stare decisis

The doctrine or principle that decisions should stand as precedents for guidance in cases arising in the future. A strong judicial policy that the determination of a point of law by a court will generally be followed by a court of the same or a lower rank in a subsequent case which presents the same legal problem, although different parties are involved in the subsequent case. 20 Am J2d Cts § 183. The great principle, stare decisis, so fundamental in our law, and so congenial to liberty, is peculiarly important in popular governments, where the influence of passions is strong, the struggles for power are violent, the fluctuations of party are frequent, and the desire of suppressing opposition, or of gratifying revenge under the forms of law and by the agency of the courts, is constant and active. Ex parte Bollman (US) 4 Cranch 75, 89, 2 L Ed 554, 559. An opinion rendered by a court of a foreign country, especially a British court, although having no effect by stare decisis in this country, may well be persuasive on an American court, particularly where the foreign court deals in its opinion with a question of law common to all civilized nations. 20 Am J2d Cts § 200. The decision of a court of one state does not have effect as stare decisis in the court of another state, although it may be considered and even followed by the court of the sister state because its reasoning is persuasive. 20 Am J2d Cts § 203. While even a single adjudication of the court, upon a question properly before it, is not to be questioned or disregarded except for the most cogent reasons, and then only in a case where it is plain that the judgment was the result of a mistaken view of the condition of the law applicable to the question, the doctrine of stare decisis is not without exceptions. It does not apply where it can be shown that the law has been misunderstood or misapplied, or where the former determination is evidently contrary to reason. Rumsey v New York & New England Railway Co. 133 NY 79, 30 NE 654.