The court unanimously ruled that the city, which has approved many other requests to raise flags at its City Hall, violated a Christian group’s free speech rights.
Members of the court’s conservative majority indicated that the coach, Joseph A. Kennedy, had a constitutional right to kneel and pray at the 50-yard line after games.
Their efforts to seem consistent can clash with respect for precedent in the usual sense. But a new article argues that personal precedents have a role to play as legal building blocks.