Courts sometimes reach wrong outcomes to avoid bad future rules
Evidence
A court giving reasons for its decision in one case is announcing reasons that will apply in subsequent cases. Because reasons are always more general than the outcomes that they are reasons for, courts will often try to assess whether the reasons they give for a good result in the first case will have the effect of producing less-than-good results in subsequent cases. And courts will sometimes consider reaching the wrong outcome in the case before it in order to avoid laying down a rule that will produce poor outcomes in future cases. — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 548
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Law deliberately accepts suboptimal answers to maximize long-term institutional correctness. — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 431; Stated precedent rules often fail to determine later case outcomes — Burton, Steven J, An Introduction to Law and Legal…, 216; A judge’s self-interest in avoiding admitted error shapes legal rulings — Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 2732 (+16 more)
Related
- Law deliberately accepts suboptimal answers to maximize long-term institutional correctness. (similarity 0.83)
- Precedent obliges judges to follow cases they believe were wrongly decided. (similarity 0.79)
- A judge’s self-interest in avoiding admitted error shapes legal rulings (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Stated precedent rules often fail to determine later case outcomes
#corroborates(0.75) — Burton, Steven J, An Introduction to Law and Legal…, 216 - Courts must decide only the case before them, not hypothetical future cases
#complicates(0.70) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1008 - A judge’s self-interest in avoiding admitted error shapes legal rulings
#complicates(0.60) — Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 2732 - Elevating a single case holding to a principle causes improper legal breadth.
#complicates(0.55) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 136