Re: Framers on Precedent

[Mark Graber]

Madison in Federalist 37 made clear that precedent would matter, indeed for most constitutional questions.  I argue in "Antebellum Perspectives on Free Speech," 10 William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 779, 804-810 (2002) that antebellum Americans believed that constitutional precedents outside of the court were as vital if not more vital than judicial decisions.  For a similar point, see Whittington, CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTIONS.   Mark A. Graber >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/02/03 08:36AM >>> >I hope this is an appropriate question for our list-serve.   I have been >working for some time on a book on constitutional stare decisis  for >Oxford University Press.  There is at least one matter on which I would >appreciate guidance -- what the Framers -- or their generation -- said >about precedent as a source of constitutional meaning or about how much >respect the Court owed to its own constitutional decisions.  I have begun >researching the question and have been assisted along by the way by, among >other things, Thomas Lee's fine article in the Vanderbilt Law Review on >the subject.  If people know of good places for me to look to get this >information, I would appreciate hearing from them either in response to >this email on the list-serve or by separate communication.  Many thanks.