Supreme Court - APGinsburg: Int'l Law Shaped Court Rulings

Associated Press ^ | August 2, 2003 | By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

[bart99]

 Supreme Court - APGinsburg: Int'l Law Shaped Court Rulings Sat Aug 2, 9:48 PM ET

By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is looking beyond America's borders for guidance in handling cases on issues like the death penalty and gay rights, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) said Saturday.

The justices referred to the findings of foreign courts this summer in their own ruling that states may not punish gay couples for having sex.

And in 2002, the court said that executing mentally retarded people is unconstitutionally cruel. That ruling noted that the practice was opposed internationally.

"Our island or lone ranger mentality is beginning to change," Ginsburg said during a speech to the American Constitution Society, a liberal lawyers group holding its first convention.

Justices "are becoming more open to comparative and international law perspectives," said Ginsburg, who has supported a more global view of judicial decision making.

Ginsburg cited an international treaty in her vote in June to uphold the use of race in college admissions.

The shift has angered some conservatives. Justice Antonin Scalia (news - web sites), in the gay sex case, wrote with two colleagues that the court should not "impose foreign moods, fads, or fashions on Americans."

David Rivkin Jr., a conservative Washington attorney, said foreign trends can be helpful to legislators in setting policy, but not to judges in interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

Last month, Ginsburg and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites) and Stephen Breyer (news - web sites) discussed the death penalty and terrorism with French President Jacques Chirac during a European tour. France outlawed the death penalty in 1981. Ginsburg was one of five justices who attended a conference on the European constitution.

Ginsburg said Saturday that the Internet is making decisions of courts in other countries more readily available in America, and they should not be ignored.

"While you are the American Constitution Society, your perspective on constitutional law should encompass the world," she told the group of judges, lawyers and students. "We are the losers if we do not both share our experiences with and learn from others."

[Tarl]

The Supreme Court is the defender, you're not going to change the two party system in the lifetime of anyone living today so if a President says he will appoint strict constitutionists to the Court then thats where your hope goes.

[Joe Boucher]

Elected officials?
Listen, I spoke to a friend of mine who happens to be a Muslim from Nigeria. I asked him his opinion of politicians in his home country and he said the same thing I have heard from folks in China, Mexico the U.S.A., Canada, japan, South Korea, North Korea, Trinadad, and a total of 35 foreign countries. They are crooks. I swear if you ask if it is true of any person from around the world if they consider their hometowns or states politicians as crooks and to a one they all say yes, hell yes. Just like I do here in Florida, U.S.A.

[mabelkitty]

She, and her cohorts, should be impeached and removed from the bench.

If this is allowed to stand unchallenged, don't think Congress won't pick up on it and continue to erode the Constitution.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

"You elitist one world bitch."

Insert "EVIL ANTI-AMERICAN" in the above sentence.