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Effect of Conflicting Court of Appeal Decisions Effect of Conflicting Court of Appeal Decisions
The following is an excerpt from AUTO EQUITY SALES, INC. v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, 57 Cal. 2d 450, 455 et seq; 369 P.2d 937, 939 et seq; 20 Cal. Rptr. 321, 323 et seq (1962), still good law:
... Under the doctrine of stare decisis, all tribunals exercising inferior jurisdiction are required to follow decisions of courts exercising superior jurisdiction. Otherwise, the doctrine of stare decisis makes no sense. The decisions of this court are binding upon and must be followed by all the state courts of California. Decisions of every division of the District Courts of Appeal are binding upon all the justice and municipal courts and upon all the superior courts of this state, and this is so whether or not the superior court is acting as a trial or appellate court. Courts exercising inferior jurisdiction must accept the law declared by courts of superior jurisdiction. It is not their function to attempt to overrule decisions of a higher court. ... Of course, the rule under discussion has no application where there is more than one appellate court decision, and such appellate decisions are in conflict. In such a situation, the court exercising inferior jurisdiction can and must make a choice between the conflicting decisions.
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