Abusing Precedent

Definition: Judges expand on or invent erroneous precedents to give legal status to their preferred outcomes.
Reinforcing Grave Errors: Judges reinforce and expand on a prior error of the Court.
Precedential Revisionism: Judges mishandle or misread a Court’s precedent to arrive at a desired result.

Heritage Research on Rule of Law

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Abusing Precedent

Heritage Analysis of Kelo v. City of New London

In this case, the Court abused precedent, reinforcing grave errors by extending the misinterpretation of “public use” as being the equivalent of “public purpose,” which not only displaces the language of the Clause, but invites limitless infringement on one of our most fundamental rights. As Justice O’Connor states powerfully in her dissent, “Under the banner of economic ...

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Abusing Precedent Cases

Decision  Court Areas of Law
Cooper v. Aaron  Supreme Court  Equal Protection 
Dabit v. Merrill Lynch  Second Circuit  Corporate Law 
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority  Supreme Court  Federalism 
Gonzales v. Raich  Supreme Court  Federalism 
Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff  Supreme Court  Property Rights 
Hayden v. Pataki  Second Circuit  Election Law 
Hill v. Colorado  Supreme Court  First Amendment 
Humphrey's Executor v. United States  Supreme Court  Separation of Powers 
Katzenbach v. McClung  Supreme Court  Federalism 
Kelo v. City of New London, Conn.  Supreme Court  Property Rights 
Malesko v. Correctional Services Corp.  Second Circuit  Corporate Law 
Maloney v. Cuomo  Second Circuit  Second Amendment 
Mapp v. Ohio  Supreme Court  Fourth Amendment 
Morrison v. Olson  Supreme Court  Separation of Powers 
Planned Parenthood v. Casey  Supreme Court  Privacy Rights, Due Process 
Rasul v. Bush  Supreme Court  National Security 
Reynolds v. Sims  Supreme Court  Election Law, Equal Protection 
Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut  Supreme Court  Election Law, First Amendment 
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