Court Opinion

ID: 9726466
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:51:34.00081+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:27.597849
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, CHIEF JUSTICE
¶ 45. (concurring). I join the majority opinion. I *354write separately to address the Petty1 issue set forth in the dissent.
¶ 46. I wholeheartedly acknowledge the importance of stare decisis in a system based on a rule of law. The dissent cites a few of a plethora of opinions (some written by me) to highlight the high hurdle that courts must overcome when they seek to revisit past precedent.
¶ 47. My point of disagreement with the dissenting opinion lies not in its reverence toward stare decisis, nor in its explanation of its precepts, but rather in its application of these important principles to a footnote in Petty.
¶ 48. It is improper to erect the high bar of stare decisis until one has successfully cleared the high bar of showing that Petty note 13 is a judicial precedent in the first instance. The dissent ducks the bar, ignoring the blatant conflict between Petty note 10 (declaring that the opinion "need not reach the issue of whether the two prosecutions were 'for the same act'") and Petty note 13 (apparently addressing whether the two prosecutions were for the same act based on the defendant's failure to offer authority, reasoning, or explanation for his position). If Petty note 10 disavows Petty note 13, why should this court now be bound by Petty note 13?
¶ 49. I agree with the majority opinion and the Court of Appeals that the Petty opinion did not reach the issue presented in the case at bar, that is, whether the federal and state prosecutions were for the "same act."
¶ 50. For the reasons set forth, I write separately.