The Unworkable Unworkability Test

In this Note, Lauren Vicki Stark argues that the Supreme Court’s approach to overruling precedent based on “unworkability” is flawed and should be discarded. The Court has listed several factors that may constitute special justifications for overruling, including whether the precedent is “unworkable.” This Note examines each of the cases in which the Court has relied on unworkability to overrule and highlights the problems with the Court’s analysis. The author concludes that, rather than relying on unworkability to overrule its precedents, the Court could have clarified them or, in limited situations, applied the doctrine of justiciability instead.