Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Colorado

Re: research

If the opinion is published in the jurisdiction's official court reporter (a series of books containing published opinions) then it is law unless and until it is overturned by another court opinion, by statute or by constitutional amendment.

Unpublished decisions generally don't have the same effect, but they do in some jurisdictions and under some conditions.

In some court systems (including the federal courts and the state courts here in California) there are multiple appellate courts which can hand down conflicting decisions on a given issue. The legal effect of such a conflict varies from one system to another. In the federal courts, each appellate court has jurisdiction over a particular region of the country and its decisions are binding on lower federal courts in that region. Here in California, each appellate court's decisions theoretically carry equal weight throughout the state; in practice, though, lower courts almost always follow the lead of their local appellate court.