Disagreeing with Yourself: Horizontal Stare Decisis in State Intermediate Appellate Courts
32 Pages Posted: 7 May 2024 Last revised: 16 May 2024
Date Written: May 5, 2024
Abstract
Some statewide intermediate appellate courts, like Kansas, do not follow horizontal stare decisis—one panel of the court can disagree, but not overrule, another. This article reviews how precedential disagreements arise in the Kansas Court of Appeals, what the costs and benefits are of not following horizontal stare decisis, and how attorneys might change their advocacy approach in a state like Kansas. The article concludes that the benefits of the Kansas practice in achieving better development of the law and justice in individual cases outweighs the harm of less predictability in precedent.
Keywords: Appellate procedure, stare decisive, horizontal stare decisis, intermediate appellate courts, appellate courts, precedent
JEL Classification: K40, K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation