Choose the FALSE statement: While most civil (noncriminal) cases are heard before a state court, criminal cases are only heard before a federal court. The doctrine of stare decisis still is used in the United States and other common law countries. A precedent favoring the other side in a court case is usually met by arguments intended to distinguish the present case, not to overturn the precedent. The U.S. Constitution takes precedence over stare decisis. Changing times and changing attitudes of society are both arguments used to ignore or modify existing precedents