This article is the fourth and final installment in our series
on the Wisconsin Supreme Court's recently completed 2017-18
term. For previous installments, see
here,
here, and
here.
Last term, the United States Supreme Court was expected to
clarify its decision in Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188
(1977), which adopted a rule governing the precedential value
of 4-1-4 decisions of the Court. Under Marks, the Court
adopted the following rule (which had been proposed by three
Justices the previous year):
When a fragmented Court decides a case and no single rationale
explaining the result enjoys the assent of five Justices, "the
holding of the Court may be viewed as that position taken by those
Members who concurred in the judgments on the narrowest grounds . .
. ."
