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65 La. L. Rev. 775 (2004-2005)
The Sources of Law and the Value of Precedent: A Comparative and Empirical Study of a Civil Law State in a Common Law Nation

handle is hein.journals/louilr65 and id is 785 raw text is: The Sources of Law and the Value of Precedent: A Comparative and Empirical Study of a Civil Law State in a Common Law Nation Mary Garvey Algero* This Article provides a contemporary and comparative examination of the sources of law and the value ofprecedent in Louisiana, a state whosejudicial system resembles those of common lawjudicial systems of the United States, but whose private civil law is rooted in the civil law traditions ofFrance and Spain, which were prevalent in the territory ofLouisiana in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. The Article examines the doctrines of stare decisis and 'jurisprudence constante and the value of precedent in select common law and civil law jurisdictions, then focuses on Louisiana as an example ofa jurisdiction which, like many jurisdictions worldwide, has valued precedent in such a way that it is extremely influential, but not always binding on the courts. The Article refers to this practice as systemic respect for jurisprudence because the value of a precedent is directly related to the status in the legal system of the court deciding the prior case. An empirical study of the Louisiana judiciary on the sources of law and the value of precedent in Louisiana complements a discussion of these issues based on scholarly works on Louisiana law and Louisiana judicial opinions. The author concludes that many jurisdictions, both common law- and civil law-based, are gravitating to systemic respect for jurisprudence and away from strict use of the traditional stare decisis and jurisprudence constante doctrines. The Article then proposes law to codify the principle of systemic respect for jurisprudence. Copyright 2005, by LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW. * Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. The author expresses deepest gratitude to the 150 members of the Louisiana judiciary who responded to the Survey ofLouisiana Judges Regarding Sources Relied on To Decide Cases, which the author distributed in 2003. The results of this survey were invaluable in the research and writing of this article. The author gratefully acknowledges the research assistance of Brandi White, Jennifer Englander, and Maggie Dierker, which was made possible by the support of the Alfred J. Bonomo, Sr. family and the Rosaria Sarah Lanasa Memorial Scholarship Fund. The author also thanks Professors Katherine Venturatos Lorio and Monica Hof Wallace for commenting on drafts of this Article.

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