A Shorn Beard

One of the prominent features of the common law is the concept of stare decisis. As a mechanism to provide certainty and predictability in the law, it is invaluable. Nonetheless, the doctrine of binding precedent, essential though it is to the orderly development of the law, can be misused. At times, the disingenuous application of stare decisis can lead to severe distortion of the law from what was actually meant in the case being cited as authority. Such, I submit, is the case with the intoxication rules.