Are Supreme Court decisions common law or enacted law?

Answer 1

Answer

While the answer is not as straightforward as the question suggests, law created by established precedents is typically considered common law.

Explanation

Enacted laws are statutes created by legislative bodies, such as Congress, state legislatures, and municipal governments. The Constitution did not grant the Judicial branch, headed by the Supreme Court, the power to make new laws (other than court laws, which govern court procedures, only).

Supreme Court decisions result in case law, which has the effect of enacted law when applied through the doctrine of stare decisis (Latin: let the decision stand). This means lower courts are bound by precedents set by higher courts, particularly the US Supreme Court.

There are two types of case law:

1. Common Law
2. Interpretation of Enacted Law

Some people consider all case law to be synonymous with common law; however, legal scholars prefer a narrower definition of common law that applies only to laws developed solely through judicial decision, without regard to written law. Common law is independent from enacted law, and may even vary by locale within the same country. This practice was used in England beginning in the 12th Century, but was less problematic then than it would be today because people were less migratory, thus less likely to become unwittingly entangled in contradictory laws.

In the US, legislated law prevails over common law. In case law based on enacted law, the Court's decisions are intended to uphold legislation (unless a particular law is unconstitutional), and is applied consistently through stare decisis so that earlier cases (usually) control interpretation of later cases based on the same laws.

A third type of interpretation results in statutory case law, or law created when a decision logically expands on the written law and becomes an accepted part of that law. This occurs when Congress (or other governing bodies) pass legislation that doesn't clearly explain how the law is intended to regulate specific conditions that arise to which the law applies.

According to William Burnham, in Introduction to the Law and Legal System of the United States, the hierarchy of law is as follows:

1. United States Constitution
2. Federal statutes, treaties and court rules (court rules govern judicial process, only)
3. Federal administrative agency law
4. Federal common law (certain Supreme Court and unchallenged Appeals Court decisions)
5. State Constitutions
6. State statutes and court rules
7. State agency rules
8. State common law

Each level also includes law based on interpretation of enacted law, as distinct from Common Law.

So, the short answer to your question is: The Supreme Court does not create enacted law. The Supreme Court does create common law, but not all Supreme Court decisions can be considered common law, as per the above explanation.