Constrained by Precedent 63 Southern California Law Review 1989-1990

About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

63 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1 (1989-1990)
Constrained by Precedent

handle is hein.journals/scal63 and id is 15 raw text is: ARTICLES
CONSTRAINED BY PRECEDENT
LARRY ALEXANDER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 3
II. THE FIRST MODEL: GIVING PRECEDENT ITS
NATURAL WEIGHT .................................... 5
A. THE NATURAL MODEL OF PRECEDENT DESCRIBED... 5
B. THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE NATURAL MODEL OF
PRECEDENT .......................................... 7
C IS THE NATURAL MODEL OF PRECEDENT REALLY A
FORM OF PRECEDENT? ................................ 8
D. THE NORMATIVE CASE FOR THE NATURAL MODEL
OF PRECEDENT ...................................... 9
1. The Equality Value ............................... 9
2. The Reliance Value ............................... 13
3. The Value of General Rules ....................... 14
E. AN ASSESSMENT OF THE NATURAL MODEL OF
PRECEDENT .......................................... 16
III. THE SECOND MODEL: THE RULE MODEL OF
PRECEDENT ............................................ 17
A. THE RULE MODEL OF PRECEDENT DESCRIBED ....... 17
B. MODIFYING OR NARROWING THE RULE .............. 19
1. Narrowing the Rule to the Facts of the Precedent
Case ............................................. 20
2. Narrowing the Rule Based Upon the Reasons Behind
It ................................................ 20
3. Narrowing the Rule to the Facts of the Precedent
Case While Limited to Factual Distinctions that
Point to a Different Outcome ...................... 21
4. Narrowing the Rule Based Upon Its Inconsistency
With Other Rules, or Based Upon Clear Inadvertent
M istake .......................................... 23
5. Narrowing the Rule to Make an Ideal Rule ........ 23