Nelson v. Timberline International, Inc.

The dissenting opinion correctly sets out this court’s sound principles bearing on stare decisis, and I certainly do not take issue with them. This court has and continues to follow those rules, but it should not do so blindly. As the majority opinion says, stare decisis has never been applied mechanically to prohibit overriding prior decisions that have determined the meaning of statutes.

Only recently, this court dealt with the Second Injury Fund in the case of Stucco Plus, Inc. v. Rose, 327 Ark. 314, 938 S.W.2d 556 (1997), where we held the Worker’s Compensation Commission erred in relying…