the.com/precedent
The first time anyone did anything, suddenly becoming the rule everyone after must obey.
means An earlier action, decision, or event that serves as a guide or rule for how similar situations should be handled later.
from From Latin praecedens, the present participle of praecedere, 'to go before' — built from prae- ('before') and cedere ('to go,' the same root that walks through 'proceed,' 'recede,' and 'exceed'). It arrived in English through Old French in the late Middle Ages, first meaning simply 'a thing that comes before,' and settled into its legal sense — the case that future cases must follow — as it became the spine of common law.
- latin root
- From praecedere, meaning to go before.
- legal backbone
- Stare decisis: courts bound by past rulings.
- overturnable
- Brown v. Board demolished decades of precedent.
- double edged
- One bold move locks in everyone after you.
marbury v madison — 1803 supreme court case that established judicial review as constitutional law
roe v wade — 1973 supreme court decision that legalized abortion, overturned in 2022