Catching up on Supreme Court oral arguments, I was struck by the following exchange in Royal Canin U.S.A. v. Wullschleger (a case about the effects of post-removal amendments to a complaint) in which Justice Sotomayor suggested that some lower court judges are taking their cues from dicta in Supreme Court opinions.
From the transcript:
JUSTICE ALITO: Well, do you think that—that courts of appeals read our
decisions differently than we may? I mean, you know, I'm—I was on a
court of appeals for 15 years. If I saw a strong dictum in a Supreme Court decision, I
would very likely just salute and move on. But, here —(Laughter.)
JUSTICE ALITO:—we have —
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: Not now.
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE ALITO:—more of an obligation—it depends, Justice Sotomayor —(Laughter.)
JUSTICE ALITO:—both when we're considering—you know, when we're considering
what we've written—we know how these things are written. You know, we know how these footnotes are written. Can—do we have liberty to read them a little bit differently?
