Judge Britt C. Grant, JD ’07, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, delivered this year’s Constitution Day lecture at Stanford Law on September 24. Grant focused her lecture on precedent and stare decisis, two similar concepts that have been prominent in recent legal and political debates.  • “As a circuit court judge, it is my job to follow precedent and apply the holding by other previous courts,” Grant told the crowd. “There is tension that is inherent in how legal thinkers approach precedent. On the one hand, we follow and respect precedent; that’s an unshakable foundation of our legal tradition. On the other hand, we need to get it right. The Constitution and statutes have meaning and it is important for judges to offer that meaning correctly in their decisions. An incorrect legal interpretation is just as incorrect if someone prior came up with it or if I came up with it. These competing goals of constitutional and statutory meaning and stability can be difficult imperatives to square.”