The article compares how laws are made and how past court decisions are used in Louisiana, which has a mix of French and Spanish legal traditions, and other states in the US. It shows that many places are moving towards valuing past court decisions but not always following them exactly. Louisiana courts give a lot of importance to past decisions, but they are not always required to follow them. This is called "respect for precedent." Other places are also starting to value past decisions more than strict rules about following them.