"I don't think it's appropriate or useful to look to 
    foreign law in interpreting the provisions of our 
    Constitution," Judge Alito said in response to questions 
    from Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, in the 
    third day of the judge's confirmation hearings before the 
    Senate Judiciary Committee. 

    "I think the Framers would be stunned by the idea that 
    the Bill of Rights is to be interpreted by taking a poll 
    of the countries of the world," Judge Alito said. "The 
    purpose of the Bill of Rights was to give Americans 
    rights that were recognized practically nowhere else in 
    the world at the time. The Framers did not want Americans 
    to have the rights of people in France or the rights of 
    people in Russia or any of the other countries on the 
    continent of Europe at the time; they wanted them to have 
    the rights of Americans."