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Justice Ginsburg Backs Value of Foreign Law
NY Times ^ | April 2, 2005 | ANNE E. KORNBLUT

Posted on 04/02/2005 3:58:14 AM PST by Pharmboy

WASHINGTON, April 1 - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court embraced the practice of consulting foreign legal decisions on Friday, rejecting the argument from conservatives that United States law should not take international thinking into account.

After a strongly worded dissent in a juvenile death penalty case from Justice Antonin Scalia last month that accused the court of putting too much faith in international opinion, Justice Ginsberg said the United States system should, if anything, consider international law more often.

"Judges in the United States are free to consult all manner of commentary," she said in a speech to several hundred lawyers and scholars here Friday.

She cited several instances when the logic of foreign courts had been applied to help untangle legal questions domestically, and of legislatures and courts abroad adopting United States law.

Fears about relying too heavily on world opinion "should not lead us to abandon the effort to learn what we can from the experience and good thinking foreign sources may convey," Justice Ginsburg told members of the American Society of International Law.

On March 1, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the Constitution forbids executing convicts who committed their crimes before turning 18. The majority opinion reasoned that the United States was increasingly out of step with the world by allowing minors to be executed, saying "the United States now stands alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty."

Justice Scalia lambasted that logic, saying that "like-minded foreigners" should not be given a role in helping interpret the Constitution. House Republicans have introduced a resolution declaring that the "meaning of the Constitution of the United States should not be based on judgments, laws or pronouncements of foreign institutions unless such foreign judgments, laws or pronouncements inform an understanding of the original meaning of the Constitution of the United States."

In her speech, Justice Ginsberg criticized the resolutions in Congress and the spirit in which they were written. "Although I doubt the resolutions will pass this Congress, it is disquieting that they have attracted sizable support," she said.

"The notion that it is improper to look beyond the borders of the United States in grappling with hard questions has a certain kinship to the view that the U.S. Constitution is a document essentially frozen in time as of the date of its ratification," Justice Ginsburg said.

"Even more so today, the United States is subject to the scrutiny of a candid world," she said. "What the United States does, for good or for ill, continues to be watched by the international community, in particular by organizations concerned with the advancement of the rule of law and respect for human dignity."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice introduced Justice Ginsburg at the event, the first appearance by a sitting secretary of state before the 99-year-old organization in decades. Dr. Rice described Justice Ginsberg as "a great and good friend," adding that they also happened to be neighbors.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: clintonlegacy; condi; constitution; criminal; filibuster; foreignlaw; getarope; ginsberg; ginsbergcountry; globalism; globalist; impeach; judicialactivism; judiciary; law; northamericaunion; oathbreaker; oligarchy; scotus; supremes; treason
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To: Pharmboy

Justice Ginsburg should be consulting the United States Constitution, foreign courts are irrelevant. If she believes that judges can/should consult foriegn opinion and foriegn laws, she should be impeached and removed from the bench.


101 posted on 04/02/2005 7:12:01 AM PST by Leto
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To: First_Salute; Pharmboy; dalereed
I actually think she could now be considered a foreign AGENT and should be required to register as such. She, and her ilk obviously lusts after destroying this country!!!

Must we sit idly by, here on our computers, and just watch this shabby shift happen???

102 posted on 04/02/2005 7:22:12 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: GABaptist

better it move to Florida


103 posted on 04/02/2005 7:23:23 AM PST by LauraJean (sometimes I win sometimes I donate to the equine benevolent society)
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To: Huck; dalereed; editor-surveyor; Lando Lincoln
"Breyer is just as bad."

From where I sit, Kennedy is just as bad on this foreign input into our EXCEPTIONAL CONSTITUTION!!! (sorry for the yell, but what the hell is this crappola, anyway?)

104 posted on 04/02/2005 7:26:45 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: First_Salute; NormsRevenge; Syncro; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Dog Gone; Grampa Dave; Southack; ...
"...she is operating in violation of her oath."

And devaluing everything we stand/have stood for to the point of making it not worth fighting and dying for very soon!!!

105 posted on 04/02/2005 7:32:27 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: Mannaggia l'America
BANG! BANG! BANG! (sound of gavel wrapping!)

And there you have it... right there in the oath she took... SHE LIED!!! ("under the Constitution and laws of the United States!!!")

106 posted on 04/02/2005 7:40:13 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: tenuredprof; Lazamataz; Registered; Jim Robinson
You're right, but most people don't think in terms of fine distinctions like that! What we REALLY need, and fast... is a truly RUTHLESS SCOTUS!!!
107 posted on 04/02/2005 7:49:21 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: Real Cynic No More
I agree that foreign laws should be considered... but not by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is Congress' responsibility to make the laws.

What an excellent point. It seems so obvious now, but I NEVER would have thought of it. Thanks for posting.

108 posted on 04/02/2005 7:52:50 AM PST by Pharmboy ("Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God")
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To: First_Salute
"I know."

Yes you do and God Bless You for those prose!!!

109 posted on 04/02/2005 7:56:54 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: thoughtomator; All

Several on this thread have brought up impeachment. Can any of you Freeper legal eagles tell us if this is possible? What potential grounds are there for her impeachment? I would be for it, certainly...if for no other reason than she gives heart to the lower court judges who think that way.


110 posted on 04/02/2005 7:57:50 AM PST by Pharmboy ("Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God")
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To: Diogenesis

Exactly so. Every time I read one of your comments I agree 100%. At least so far!

I've GOT to read "Men in Black" by Mark Levin.


111 posted on 04/02/2005 8:04:02 AM PST by little jeremiah (Resisting evil is our duty or we are as responsible as those promoting it.)
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To: Pharmboy

In related news a Colorado death penalty conviction was thrown out by the courts becasue a juror had referenced the bible. Someone need to ask Ginsberg why it is OK to consult foreign law, but not the bible.


112 posted on 04/02/2005 8:05:50 AM PST by Natural Law
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To: Dog Gone
I get your point, but shouldn't we be reaching for and grabbing something other than "popcorn?"

(wouldn't a pen, at least, have more potential power for corrective change?)

113 posted on 04/02/2005 8:09:39 AM PST by SierraWasp (GovernMental EnvironMental Parasitic Pissants perpetually tormenting American's Progress!!!)
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To: SierraWasp
Wasp, you've GOT to be able to multi-task in today's political environment.

Popcorn, pens, and pistols.

(Okay, maybe not pistols, but I needed another P word for alliteration and that sounded impressive.)

114 posted on 04/02/2005 8:33:50 AM PST by Dog Gone
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To: chief_bigfoot
Is a lifelong appointment to the bench such a great idea.

I don't feel strongly about that _as long as_ we have Presidents, Governors, and Legislatures determined to reclaim their authority.

While the Courts are insanely out of control it is the responsibility of our elected officials to step up, take responsibility for their actions, and refuse to acknowledge grossly absurd court decisions.

As has mentioned on this Board many times, the model is Abraham Lincoln's refusal to support the Fugitive Slave Act despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Dred Scott.

Lincoln said "Chief Justice Taney has made his decision. Now let him enforce it."

It is time for governors and W to say those exact same words on capital punishment cases, gay marriage cases, abortion cases etc.

Otherwise there is no point in having elections at all. The President, Governors, Congress and Legislatures should just go home and let the courts run the country if they are not prepared to take the actions necessary to see that their will, the public's will, is enforced.
115 posted on 04/02/2005 8:36:14 AM PST by cgbg (Fire the Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund with no money in it!)
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To: Jim Noble; SierraWasp

The Constitution provides for its own amendment.

----

and imo, it would seem , its own destruction as well when good people do nothing to protect and preserve it, and only seek to 'enhance' it and make it more with the times.

The living 'Constitution' only appeals to those who would seek to destroy it, for at the roots of some folks belief, the world is in turmoil because our Founding Fathers sought a new way of governing, not ruled by earthly desires and human foibles.


116 posted on 04/02/2005 9:32:42 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...... The War on Terrorism is the ultimate 'faith-based' initiative.)
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To: Pharmboy

""Judges in the United States are free to consult all manner of commentary,"

No, Justice Ginsberg, you are supposed to consult the US Constitution.


117 posted on 04/02/2005 9:35:07 AM PST by swordfish71 (There is no storm like the PERFECT ROVIAN STORM!)
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To: Finalapproach29er
This is why we must keep the filibuster.IMO

HUH????

118 posted on 04/02/2005 9:38:07 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (This tagline no longer operative....floated away in the flood of 2005 ,)
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To: RedEyeJack
Which is, in a nut shell, why the Democrats in the Senate are opposing Bush nominees on an ideological rather than a qualification (experience and morals) basis.

Exactly....we must put the Judiciary back as a coequal branch of the Federal Government rather than a super legislative branch!!

119 posted on 04/02/2005 9:43:21 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (This tagline no longer operative....floated away in the flood of 2005 ,)
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To: Pharmboy

Well, I've always said, "Ruth Vader Ginsberg may look like Yoda, but she belongs to the dark side, when it comes to protecting our liberties."


120 posted on 04/02/2005 9:45:48 AM PST by chickenlips
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