The doctrine of stare decisis — the cornerstone of the common law tradition — is a legal principle by which judges are self-obliged to adhere to precedents or previous court decisions. Furthermore, this venerable doctrine is designed to promote stability, predictability, and the rule of law. Hey, that’s really great, so can anyone explain to us why stare decisis applies only to the courts and not to legislatures? (Also, while we’re on this subject, is stare decisis a logically coherent principle or just another case of wishful thinking?)

Typo?