Part one of term paper
One of the major considerations on how someone is tried in a court of law depends upon the previous convictions of similar cases. This law of precedent (stare decisis) was founded hundreds of years ago as part of our common law. The literal translation of stare decisis is "that like cases be decided alike." Precedents in law play a fundament ...

Part two of term paper
... Despite the fall backs of stare decisis, the law of precedent still holds true and important in our modern society. Some of the shortcomings of stare decisis are the following: As time changes, precedents need to change in order to accommodate society's new values and laws. Furthermore, the introduction of "social facts" in court cases has clouded over many existing precedents with many new facts and ideas that render the basics of stare decisis much more complicated. One of the more comm ...