The NLJ has Justice Thomas on Precedent: ‘If [It’s] Totally Stupid ... You Don’t Go Along With It’ -- Sparing the usual litany of "stare decisis" factors, Justice Clarence Thomas offered a simple formula for the amount of deferential weight he gives a precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court: how much he agrees with it.
Thomas likened the court’s reliance on precedent to adding cars on the back of a long train without question. “We never go to the front to see where it’s going,” he said. “You could go up to the engine room and find that it’s an orangutan driving. And you’re going to follow that? I think we owe our fellow citizens more than that.”
Law360 has Justice Thomas Says High Court Precedent Isn't 'Gospel'
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Thursday that he doesn't view the high court's prior rulings as "the gospel," and that any precedent that doesn't respect the U.S. Constitution or the country's legal traditions is ripe for reconsideration.
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