A couple days ago, I discussed how Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has advocated that no judge should spend even a few seconds "studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation." Such a public statement appears to be in contravention of 28 U.S. Code §453, the oath of judges, which requires all judges to "faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent ... under the Constitution and laws of the United States." Writing over at the American Bar Association Journal's website, Debra Cassens Weiss has brought to light some additional and equally troubling statements by Posner, this time made to The Dallas Morning News about his disdain for the doctrine of precedent (stare decisis): They [precedents] should be applied very infrequently. Here's the problem: The law, for whatever historical reasons or other reasons, tends to be very...(Read Full Post)