Editing Precedent (section)

===Academic study===
Precedent viewed against passing time can serve to establish trends, thus indicating the next logical step in evolving interpretations of the law. For instance, if immigration has become more and more restricted under the law, then the next legal decision on that subject may serve to restrict it further still. The existence of submerged precedent (reasoned opinions not made available through conventional legal research sources) has been identified as a potentially distorting force in the evolution of law.<ref>[https://ssrn.com/abstract=2203392## Elizabeth Y. McCuskey, Clarity and Clarification: Grable Federal Questions in the Eyes of Their Beholders, 91 NEB. L. REV. 387, 427-430 (2012)].</ref>

Scholars have recently attempted to apply [[network theory]] to precedent in order to establish which precedent is most important or authoritative, and how the court's interpretations and priorities have changed over time.<ref>[[James H. Fowler]] and Sangick Jeon, "The Authority of Supreme Court Precedent", ''Social Networks'' (2007), {{doi|10.1016/j.socnet.2007.05.001}}</ref>