Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Supreme Court Precedent & Dicta: “Federal Courts Are Not Free to Limit Supreme Court Opinions to The[ir] Facts” & Are Bound by the Supreme Court’s Considered Dicta Almost as Firmly as by Its Outright Holdings (Good Quotes)

In re: Pre -Filled Propane Tank Antitrust Litigation, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 15748 (8th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016) (Benton, J., dissenting):

[F]ederal courts "are not free to limit Supreme Court opinions to the facts of each case." McDonough v. Anoka Cnty., 799 F.3d 931, 942 (8th Cir. 2015) (internal quotations omitted). The majority dismisses Klehr's language as "illustrative and not essential to the holding," but "federal courts are bound by the Supreme Court's considered dicta almost as firmly as by the Court's outright holdings, particularly when the dicta is of recent vintage and not enfeebled by any later statement." Id. (internal quotations omitted).

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