Precedent and Stare Decisis

Grade
9-12
Lesson Duration

From Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court

Parts One and Two of this lesson involve students reflecting about and discussing the questions: What are the benefits and risks of sticking by the known rules? What are the benefits and risks of changing the rules for new situations? Part Three has students working in small groups. Students look at quotations about what the Justices think about Precedent and Stare Decisis and then summarize and share the main ideas.

Go to: http://landmarkcases.org/en/Page/692/Precedent_and__Stare_Decisis

Source

Street Law, Inc. developed landmarkcases.org with funding from the Supreme Court Historical Society to provide teachers with a full range of resources and activities to support the teaching of landmark Supreme Court cases.