According to the prioritized reason model of precedent, precedential constraint is explained in terms of the need for decision-makers to reconcile their decisions with a settled priority order extracted from past cases. The prioritized reason model of precedent departs from the view that common law rules comprise protected reasons for action. In this article I show that a model utilizing protected reasons and the prioritized reason model of precedential constraint are, in an important sense, equivalent. I then offer some reflections on the philosophical significance of this result. I argue that the protected reason model is consistent with the phenomenology of precedential constraint. I suggest an account of precedential reasoning that reconciles the prioritized reason and protected reason models.

中文翻译：

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受保护的理由和先例约束

根据先例的优先原因模型，先例约束被解释为决策者需要将其决策与从过去案例中提取的确定的优先顺序相协调。先例的优先理由模型背离了普通法规则包含受保护的行动理由的观点。在本文中，我展示了利用受保护原因的模型和优先约束的优先原因模型在重要的意义上是等价的。然后，我对这一结果的哲学意义提出了一些思考。我认为受保护的理性模型与先例约束的现象学是一致的。我建议对先例推理进行说明，以协调优先推理模型和受保护推理模型。