presentence investigation report is a guide to be followed in later cases.
presentence investigation report is a guide to be followed in later cases.
a is a guide to be followed in later cases?
presentence investigation report
once a case is finally decided, any issues decided in the previous case may be binding against the party who lost the issue in later cases, even in cases involving other parties. for example, if a first case decides that a party was negligent, then other plaintiffs may rely on that earlier determination in later cases, and need not reprove the issue of negligence. for another example, if a patent is shown to be invalid in a case against one accused infringer, that same patent is invalid against all other accused infringers—invalidity need not be reproven. again, limits and exceptions on this principle exist. the principle is called collateral estoppel or issue preclusion.
precedent
the report indicates exactly how later cases cited the case being shepardized with plain english phrases like "followed by" or "overruled" rather than by using the old abbreviations. additionally, the report shows the full case title (that is, the names of the plaintiff and defendant) and full citation for each of the later cases. this is important because lawyers can usually distinguish criminal from civil cases by looking at the title. criminal cases (with the exception of habeas corpus cases) are always titled "people v. [defendant]" or "state v. [defendant]." often, a criminal case may cite a civil case for a point of law which a civil litigator does not care about, and vice versa.
shepard's citations