The american legal system is based on common law. what do judges consider most important when making a ruling under this system?

The United States, like most of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, is heirs of the Common Law tradition from English law; for example, the American courts have inherited the principle of stare decisis.

In any case, it is important to bear in mind that despite the laws of reception, a large part of the contemporary law of the United States has diverged significantly from British Common Law. The reason is that although the courts of the Commonwealth nations are often influenced by the decisions of the other courts, the courts of the United States rarely follow the decisions made elsewhere in the Commonwealth unless there is no such decision. a relevant US decision, and provided that the facts and the law applicable to the matter are almost identical, and the arguments are very persuasive. The oldest American cases, even after the Revolution, often cited contemporary British cases.

Therefore, we can say that the judges make their decisions appealing to cases that were previously resolved on the same problem, that is, citing some jurisprudence.

a.) are both appointed for life