Re: [Phys-l] frizzi

[Hugh Haskell <haskellh@verizon.net>]

At 12:22 AM -0500 8/20/11, Jack Uretsky wrote:
> Not correct.  Thre are areas of law where the Illinois Supreme Court has
> explicitly refused to follow precedent set by the Federal Seventh Circuit
> (which includes Illinois) Court of appeals, where Illinois was not a party
> to the federal decision.  That's the meaning of federalism!

I'm not sure I understand this. Does a state have to be a party to a 
case for the ruling to become a requirement? What if, say, a case 
brought in Wisconsin (assuming it is a member of the seventh 
district) about the death penalty (or abortion, or birth control, or 
the health insurance mandate, or any of a myriad of politically 
charged cases that are still under contest around the country) 
reaches the seventh circuit court on appeal, and further, to make it 
unambiguous, assume that Illinois does not enter the case in any 
fashion, even as an amicus. If the court decision is opposed to the 
death penalty, does not that precedent apply to Illinois? I know that 
the precedent doesn't apply outside the Seventh District (in fact, it 
is my understanding that the surest way to get your case to the 
SCOTUS is for there to be two similar cases with contradictory 
results in two different districts--especially if they are 
high-profile cases).

What if it goes on to the SCOTUS, and they uphold the seventh 
circuit, does it not then apply to Illinois?

Can you give an example of the type of case that the SCOI has refused 
to follow a precedent set by the Seventh Circuit?

I guess I can imagine some type of cases that might not apply outside 
the relevant jurisdiction of the original case--for example, if the 
decision came down on a particular provision of a states law or 
constitution that did not directly affect other states in the 
district, but wouldn't it apply if, for example it involved an issue 
of federal law, as interpreted by the states and the district court?

This is interesting because it is the first time I have ever heard 
this mentioned, and I have several friends and relatives who are 
lawyers and it has never come up in any of our conversations about 
the law.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
mailto:hugh@ieer.org
mailto:haskellh@verizon.net

It isn't easy being green.

		--Kermit Lagrenouille