Editing Judgment (law) (section)

== Opinions within judgments ==
{{See also|Ratio decidendi|Obiter dictum}}

If more than one [[judge]] is deciding a [[Legal case|case]], the judgment may be delivered unanimously or it may be divided into a number of majority, concurring, plurality, and dissenting opinions. Only the opinion of the [[Majority opinion|majority judgment]] is considered to have [[precedent]]-setting weight. Some examples of opinions within judgments include:

* [[Majority opinion]]: the opinion of more than half of the [[judge]]s deciding a [[Legal case|case]].<ref name="auto5">''Black’s Law Dictionary'' 1266 (10th ed. 2014).</ref> This opinion becomes [[precedent]] for future cases as it represents the views of the majority of the [[court]].
* [[Concurring opinion]]: the opinion of a single [[judge]] or [[judge]]s that agrees with the final outcome of the majority opinion but disagrees in whole or in part with the reasoning.<ref>''Black’s Law Dictionary'' 352 (10th ed. 2014).</ref>
* [[Plurality opinion]]: the opinions of different [[judge]]s of the [[court]] when a majority judgment is not obtained.<ref>James F. Spriggs II & David R. Stras, ''Explaining Plurality Decisions'', 99 The Georgetown L.J. 515 at 517 (2011).</ref><ref name="auto5"/> An example of a plurality opinion is a court of three judges each rendering a different concurring decision, agreeing on a final outcome but disagreeing on the reasons justifying that final outcome.
* [[Dissenting opinion]]: the opinion of a single [[judge]] or [[judge]]s that rejects the conclusions of the majority decision in whole or in part, and explains the reasons for rejecting the majority decision.<ref>''Black’s Law Dictionary'' 1265 (10th ed. 2014).</ref>