Respectfully, I don't think you understand law very well and in particular have a misunderstanding of the word "precedent".
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a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent
In refusing to hear the case, they upheld the lower courts ruling which does have an effect. It is incorrect that you said it does not set a precedent nationwide. It does in fact set a precedent nationwide, not just in the aforementioned states.
However, I would agree that them not hearing the case does leave open room for interpretation in future cases in other states. It would have been better to have resolved the matter once and for all and had them actually make a ruling themselves which would have been "binding", but just because they did not, does not mean that it only affects these named states. Cases are always cited from other jurisdictions and it does bear weight. Not as much as if the SC had made a ruling, but in many cases it is "persuasive".
I don't mean to be nitpicky with you, but the law itself is extremely nitpicky, so in discussing it, one must be equally so. I would not want anyone to read your erroneous statement and therefore conclude that if he lives in California that this would not be considered if he should find himself in a similar situation because this applied to Illinois, when in fact the ruling, or lack thereof in this case can, and would be considered in any court nationwide.
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Originally Posted by pompousjohn
This is being mis-reported all over the internet. SCOTUS did not declare anything, they simply refused to hear the case and the precedent that the circuit court set with its decision only affects Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin as that is the jurisdiction of that court.
By declining to hear the case SCOTUS avoided creating a precedent that would have a nationwide affect.
Its still a good thing, much better than if they had agreed to hear it and made the wrong decision, its just not as good as everybody thinks.
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