The court, reaffirming an important precedent, ruled that boards have the right to manage their companies and are not duty bound to follow the wishes of shareholders.
The absurdity played out in courtrooms across the country where judges, following the Supreme Court precedent, ruled that people with epilepsy, cancer, muscular dystrophy, mental retardation and even blindness were not "disabled" under the ADA.
While defense attorneys for the state can argue this situation was the first of its kind in an era of modern technology and no precedent rules had been set on how to handle the emergency, it's hard to deny that officials failed to enact even the most basic protective measures in time.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, relying on 19th-century precedents, ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply to states and cities.
Judge Sotomayor certainly made no suggestion at the argument that she was constrained by precedent to rule for one party or the other.
Judge Sotomayor, famously, was one of three judges on an appellate panel who applied their federal circuit's settled precedent to rule in New Haven's favor.
In a concurrence, he said he would have overturned the key precedent to rule that "the Constitution does not afford students a right to free speech in public schools".
The caucus chairman, Representative Melvin Watt of North Carolina, told reporters that some black voters might ask why action was sought against a black member of Congress when there was neither precedent nor rule for it.
On this view of precedent, the rule laid down in the earlier case is represented by the ratio.
Either way, this week has been important insomuch as it sets a precedent for rule by assertion and display, rather than detail or final results.
