856
MACHINES CORP.
Opinion of the Court
exports, . . . because the Government has conceded throughout that they are not disputing that this tax, if discriminatory, is in violation of the Constitution").
Stare decisis is a "principle of policy," Helvering v. Hallock, 309 U. S. 106, 119 (1940), and not "an inexorable command," Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U. S. 808, 828 (1991). Applying that policy, we frequently have declined to overrule cases in appropriate circumstances because stare decisis "promotes the evenhanded, predictable, and consistent development of legal principles, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process." Id., at 827. "[E]ven in constitutional cases, the doctrine carries such persuasive force that we have always required a departure from precedent to be supported by some 'special justification.' " Id., at 842 (Souter, J., concurring) (quoting Arizona v. Rumsey, 467 U. S. 203, 212 (1984)).
Though from time to time we have overruled governing
decisions that are "unworkable or are badly reasoned," Payne, supra, at 827; see Smith v. Allwright, 321 U. S. 649, 665 (1944), we have rarely done so on grounds not advanced by the parties. Thames & Mersey has been controlling precedent for over 80 years, and the Government does not, indeed could not, argue that the rule established there is "unworkable." Despite the dissent's speculative protestations to the contrary, post, at 871-872, there is simply no evidence that Thames & Mersey has caused or will cause uncertainty in commercial export transactions. The principles that animate our policy of stare decisis caution against overruling a longstanding precedent on a theory not argued by the parties, and we decline to do so in this case.4
4 The dissent suggests that "the Court assumes the statute to be invalid rather than deciding it to be so." Post, at 864. We make no such assumptions. Rather, we begin with a longstanding decision that, by all accounts, controls this case. Even the Government agrees that Congress enacted a law whose application in this case directly contravenes our hold-
Page: Index Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007