Does Stare Decisis (precedent) really force judges to decide cases in particular ways?

On the topic of stare decisis, I recently published this article for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis on the topic: “The Exaggerated Importance of Stare Decisis.” “SD,” as I refer to it throughout the article, “works” on simple cases. On cases with complex issues, SD does not compel particular outcomes, yet we pretend that it does for fascinating psychological and jurisprudential reasons.