Red Signals on Shepard's® Online

An important thing to remember about the red “Stop Sign” signal you sometimes see when Shepardizing® a case on LEXIS is that it does not necessarily mean that the case is no longer good law. Although the signal can indicate this of course, (e.g., it has been overruled or reversed), the signal is also provided in situations where a later case in the history ‘chain’ has been negatively affected. As with any chain, when one link is weakened, the entire chain may be impacted. An example of where this could happen is a trial court case that is affirmed by an intermediate appellate case, which is itself reversed by a higher appellate court. A less obvious situation could occur with a lower court case which was never appealed. A later opinion in the same case by the same lower court is vacated by a higher court. The earlier opinion could be called into doubt by certain language the higher court used. While it may be more likely that there is still nothing wrong with the earlier opinion, there is still that chance. In the absence of these situations, though, the case you are Shepardizing® will be perfectly valid despite the signal, so it is worth your while to check it out.