Stare decisis and the Democrats

The Democrats' shrill repetition of the phrase "stare decisis" (which is fancy Latin for the legal principle that you look to established law to guide you in deciding cases) needs only one answer: Plessy v. Ferguson. That was the infamous post-civil war case (decided in 1896) that established the "separate but equal" principle. In other words, stare decisis notwithstanding, the Supreme Court can overturn bad precedent. It's interesting to realize, too, that in 1954, when the Supreme Court finally used some smoke and mirrors to overturn Plessy (Brown v. Board of Education), some Democrats were also screaming about stare decisis in the hopes of protecting a cherished doctrine.