[SllX]

This is stare (“starry”) decisis, and while it is absolute vertically, it is less so horizontally. Basically the court can decide that it got it wrong before, but the 9th Circuit is bound by a higher court’s precedents (SCOTUS in this case): https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/stare_decisis

[cryptonector]

With the caveat that the appeals courts set lots of precedents where the cases never reach the Supreme Court, in which cases the appeals courts are as bound by their precedents as the SCOTUS is by its precedents (i.e., not really).

[SllX]

Yep! And District Courts are bound by the Appellate Circuit Courts above them.