
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2586874
Around the turn of this century, a "highly-charged" debate erupted over unpublished federal appellate court opinions. Some argued that the common prohibition against citation to those opinions posed no constitutional problems, while others argued that no-citation rules improperly eliminated a significant check on the judicial power. This debate might have been expected to reach, but has not yet reached, issues related to the purportedly nonprecedential nature of most Tax Court opinions. Under court practices, Memorandum Opinions nominally lack precedential value. And by Congressional fiat, Summary Opinions cannot be cited as precedent. This Article explores the constitutional and practical problems raised by non-precedential Tax Court opinions. It argues that the Tax Court should abandon the nonprecedential designation of Memorandum opinions, especially because taxpayers, the IRS, Article III courts, and the Tax Court itself frequently treat those opinions as persuasive or binding authority. The Article also argues that Congressional control over the precedential status of Summary Opinions triggers separation of powers problems and that Congress should eliminate its restrictions on those opinions.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 2 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
