Stare decisis is the doctrine that past decisions have no effect on future cases.

• A. Stare decisis is the doctrine that past decisions have no effect on future cases.
• B. A legal principle that the decision of a court is a binding authority on the court that issued the decision and on lower courts in the same jurisdiction, for the disposition of factually similar cases.
• C. Stare decisis is the doctrine that lower courts must always depart from past decisions.
• D. Stare decisis means that a higher court's decision binds all courts to overrule past decisions immediately.

Answer: (C)

Stare decisis means courts follow prior rulings when the facts are similar, creating consistency and predictability in the law. The idea is that past decisions serve as binding guidance for future cases within the same legal system.

The statement that past decisions have no effect on future cases is the opposite of what stare decisis holds. Precedent binds future courts to apply and follow earlier decisions when the circumstances are alike.

The description that fits best is that a court’s decision is binding authority on the court that issued it and on lower courts in the same jurisdiction for disposition of factually similar cases. This captures how precedent flows: higher or earlier decisions guide subsequent judgments in comparable situations.

Conversely, the notion that lower courts must always depart from past decisions is incorrect, as is the idea that a higher court’s decision binds all courts to overrule past decisions immediately. Precedent can be overturned, but not automatically or universally in every instance.