State v. Stevens: Reaffirming Blum on No Precedential Value of Overruled Court of Appeals Cases – With a Caveat

Precedent and authority are concepts with which students become familiar early in law school and grow to appreciate even more in practice. Law students learn to look to details such as jurisdiction, court hierarchy, status of a decision as published or unpublished, dates of decisions, and subsequent treatment and build on these foundations to evaluate precedential value and weight of authority. Students and legal researchers in Wisconsin had to rethink some of what had been considered established principles regarding precedent after the Wisconsin Supreme Court announced in Blum that court of appeals decisions that it overruled retained no precedential value absent an express statement that portions of a decision were left intact. Today, the court in State v. Stevens reaffirmed the holding in Blum, but did so with the caveat that courts may have to determine whether an opinion was really intended to overrule all of a decision or only a portion thereof when applying the rule retroactively.

In Blum v. 1st Auto Casualty & Insurance Co., 2010 WI 78, 326 Wis. 2d 729, 786 N.W.2d 78, a decision issued two years ago tomorrow, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held “that when the supreme court overrules a court of appeals decision, the court of appeals decision no longer possesses any precedential value, unless this court expressly states otherwise.”¶ 42. The court discussed several public policy and practical considerations that it deemed would be served by this “bright-line rule nullifying the precedential value of an overruled court of appeals decision.” ¶ 51. The court viewed the rule as one that would help eliminate confusion that had grown regarding precedential value of reversed and overruled opinions and that “clarifies the law for the public as a whole.” ¶ 55.

Continue ReadingState v. Stevens: Reaffirming Blum on No Precedential Value of Overruled Court of Appeals Cases – With a Caveat

And the Princess Lived Happily Ever After as a Lawyer

I just finished reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture.

As clichéd as it sounds, children’s things just seem different from when I was growing up. Toys, tennis rackets, toothbrushes, everything, it seems, can be purchased in girl or boy specific colors and styles today.

The premise of the book validated my observations. Children are at the center of a huge marketing scheme aimed at getting parents to buy more. How is it done?

The author, Peggy Orenstein, explains that segmenting the children’s market causes people to think they should purchase separately at each level of a child’s development, or for each gender. The concept of “the toddler” is an example. Orenstein “assumed that phase was something experts—people with PhDs at the very least—developed after years of research into children’s behavior.”  (36)  Her assumption was wrong.

Instead, it “[t]urns out, according to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularized as a marketing gimmick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.” (36)

And, what’s more, “[i]t was only after ‘toddler’ became common shoppers’ parlance that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage.” (36) 

Enter the princess market. The princess market was developed by a savvy strategist at Disney named Andy Mooney in 2000.

Continue ReadingAnd the Princess Lived Happily Ever After as a Lawyer

New Poll: Republican Senate Race Changes as Presidential Race Stays Steady

With just over a month to go to the Aug. 14 primary election that will pick a Republican candidate for US Senate, the four-way race is changing shape, according to results released Wednesday by the Marquette Law School Poll. Support for Madison businessman Eric Hovde is rising while support for former Congressman Mark Neumann and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald is declining, the poll results show. Former Governor Tommy Thompson’s support has changed little and he remains in the lead. But with 25% of likely voters in the primary saying they are undecided, the outcome of the race is hard to foresee.

The poll found Thompson supported by 35% of likely primary voters, compared to 34% a month ago, and Hovde supported by 23%, up from 14% a month ago. Neumann was at 10% (down from 16%) and Fitzgerald at 6% (down from 10%).

In match-ups of each of the four Republican candidates against the Democratic candidate in the November final election, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, the current outcomes were within the margin of error, with Thompson ahead of Baldwin and Baldwin leading Hovde, Neumann, and Fitzgerald.

The poll also found little change in the presidential race in Wisconsin, with Democratic President Barack Obama ahead of Republican challenger Mitt Romney, 51% to 43%.

In the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision on the federal health insurance law, there was little overall change in Wisconsinites’ opinions of the law and in the overall numbers for how people rated the Supreme Court. But there was a notable decrease in favorable views of the Court among Republicans and a notable increase among Democrats.

For more information and full results of the poll, click here.

 

Continue ReadingNew Poll: Republican Senate Race Changes as Presidential Race Stays Steady