Conservative U.S. justices draw criticism by overruling precedent again

1 / 2FILE PHOTO: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Elena Kagan speaks during Princeton University's"She Roars: Celebrating Women at Princeton" conference in PrincetonBy Andrew Chung

The ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, overruled a 1985 Supreme Court decision that had forced property owners facing a government-led takeover of land for public purposes to seek compensation under state law before bringing a claim in federal court. Breyer said there was no special need to eliminate the precedent and that it was"dangerous" to overrule a prior decision on difficult legal issues merely because five members of the court happen to disagree with it. The May decision, Breyer wrote at the time,"can only cause one to wonder which cases the court will overrule next."

The criticism indicates a growing divide between the justices on when it is appropriate for the court to overturn its own rulings, as liberal jurists have also voted to do so in the past. A prominent example of reversing a precedent came in the court's landmark 1954 decision forbidding racial segregation in public schools that overturned an 1896 ruling that the Constitution allowed racially segregated schools that were"separate but equal.

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