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6  DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION 

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring 

Court’s precedents and for the accumulated wisdom of the 
judges  who  have  previously  addressed  the  same  issue. 
Stare decisis is rooted in Article III of the Constitution and 
is fundamental to the American judicial system and to the 
stability of American law.

Adherence to precedent is the norm, and stare decisis im-
poses  a  high  bar  before  this  Court  may  overrule  a  prece-
dent.  This Court’s history shows, however, that stare deci-
sis  is  not  absolute,  and  indeed  cannot  be  absolute. 
Otherwise,  as  the  Court  today  explains,  many  long-since-
overruled  cases  such  as  Plessy  v.  Ferguson,  163  U. S.  537 
(1896); Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45 (1905); Miners-
ville School Dist. v. Gobitis, 310 U. S. 586 (1940); and Bow-
ers  v.  Hardwick,  478  U. S.  186  (1986),  would  never  have 
been overruled and would still be the law. 

In his canonical Burnet opinion in 1932, Justice Brandeis
stated  that  in  “cases  involving  the  Federal  Constitution,
where  correction  through  legislative  action  is  practically 
impossible, this Court has often overruled its earlier deci-
sions.”  Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., 285 U. S. 393, 
406−407  (1932)  (dissenting  opinion).  That  description  of 
the Court’s practice remains accurate today.  Every current
Member of this Court has voted to overrule precedent.  And 
over the last 100 years beginning with Chief Justice Taft’s 
appointment in 1921, every one of the 48 Justices appointed
to  this  Court  has  voted  to  overrule  precedent.    Many  of
those Justices have voted to overrule a substantial number 
of very significant and longstanding precedents.  See, e.g., 
Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U. S. 644 (2015) (overruling Baker 
v.  Nelson);  Brown  v.  Board  of  Education,  347  U. S.  483 
(1954) (overruling Plessy v. Ferguson); West Coast Hotel Co. 
v. Parrish, 300 U. S. 379 (1937) (overruling Adkins v. Chil-
dren’s Hospital of D. C. and in effect Lochner v. New York).
But that history alone does not answer the critical ques-
tion: When precisely should the Court overrule an errone-
ous constitutional precedent?  The history of stare decisis in