Assignment #1 Law and Legal Reasoning Assignment

In Bowers v. Georgia,a 1986 case, the Supreme Court upheld a Georgia anti-sodomy law that forbade oral or anal sex between consenting adults -- regardless of the sexual orientation of either party. Through unusual circumstances, Michael Hardwick was seen engaging in oral sex with another man in his own bedroom by a police officer and was subsequently arrested. Although the state declined to prosecute, the American Civil Liberties Union took up the case to test the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws, and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. The law was held constitutional.

Seventeen years later, In 2003, the Supreme Court decided the case of Lawrence v. Texas and rejected Texas's anti-sodomy law. The Court was essentially declaring that the Bowers decision was incorrect. Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion stated, "Bowerswas not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today. It ought not to remain a binding precedent. Bowers v. Hardwickshould be and now is overruled." The dissent also specifically noted that the court was going against stare decisis by overturning Bowers.

Please answer the following questions:

1. Name 4primary sources of law in the US?
2. What is a precedent?
3. When will a court depart from a precedent?
4. Did the Court depart from a precedent in Lawrence v. Texas?
5. Does a U.S. Supreme Court ruling bind all courts in the United States?