What is a holding and what are dicta?
Why is it important to distinguish between the two?
When analyzing cases, one should determine which statements of the court are legally binding and which are not. Only the holding (the legal principle to be drawn from the court's decision) is binding. Other views expressed in the opinion are referred to as dicta and are not binding. Dicta is the plural of dictum. As used here, dictum is an abbreviated form of the Latin term obiter dictum, which means "a remark by the way." Dicta are any statements made in a decision that go beyond the facts of the case or that do not directly relate to the facts or to the resolution of the issue being addressed. Dicta include comments used by the court to illustrate an example and statements concerning a rule of law not essential to the case. One can probably assume that statements are dicta if they begin with "If the facts were different" or "If the plaintiff had . . ." or some other "if/then" phrase.
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