PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a
definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly
simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to
ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire. Invention
of the precedent elevates the trial-at-law from the low estate of a fortuitous ordeal to the noble
attitude of a dirigible arbitrament.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911