Glossary · Civil Procedure
Overruled
- Type
- Glossary
- Jurisdiction
- National
- Date
- 2026-09-23
- Topic
- Civil Procedure
A later decision by a court with authority over the earlier one (usually the same court or a higher one) has rejected the earlier decision's rule, so the earlier decision is no longer the law on that point. An opinion may be overruled in whole or only in part; the rest of it may remain good law.
Definition
A later decision by a court with authority over the earlier one (usually the same court or a higher one) has rejected the earlier decision's rule, so the earlier decision is no longer the law on that point. An opinion may be overruled in whole or only in part; the rest of it may remain good law.
Overruled. A later decision by a court with authority over the earlier one (usually the same court or a higher one) has rejected the earlier decision's rule, so the earlier decision is no longer the law on that point. An opinion may be overruled in whole or only in part; the rest of it may remain good law. Example: Brown v. Board of Education overruled Plessy v. Ferguson's separate-but-equal doctrine.