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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (95216)	1/14/2005 5:42:22 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793554

Does Zimbabwean Law Overrule the Constitution? Powerline If that seems like a stupid question, you haven't been paying attention. One of the most important contemporary issues is the effort by liberals to interpret our Constitution based on "international opinion," as reflected in court decisions and legislative enactments in other countries. Most Americans naively believe that the Constitution means what it says, and the job of judges in Constitutional litigation is to apply the language of that document to the facts before them. The left has long rejected this "simplistic" view, and has argued that general phrases in the Constitution must be interpreted so as to conform that document to "enlightened" opinion in this country. It is a small step to argue that the Constitution must conform to "enlightened" opinion as it exists in the "world community," a view that has gained increasing currency on the Supreme Court. Today, the Associated Press reports on a televised debate between Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Stephen Breyer on this topic. Justice Scalia argued that it is "arrogant" for American judges to mold the Constitution to fit their concept of enlightened world-wide opinion. But Justice Breyer was breathtakingly candid about the role that he thinks foreign countries should play in dictating American law: Breyer responded that international opinion can be relevant in determining fundamental freedoms in a more global society. "U.S. law is not handed down from on high even at the U.S. Supreme Court," he said. "The law emerges from a conversation with judges, lawyers, professors and law students. ... It's what I call opening your eyes as to what's going on elsewhere." I'm not sure I would have believed that if I hadn't read it: "The law emerges from a conversation with judges, lawyers, professors and law students." No mention of the language of the Constitution; no mention of statutes enacted by Congress or the state legislatures; no mention of American customs, traditions, or popular opinion. Do you think this an extreme view? It is, of course, but the Associated Press doesn't think so. Its article calls Scalia a "conservative" justice, but does not label Breyer. His view is, from the AP's perspective, the mainstream one. (A personal note--Justice Breyer was my honors thesis adviser in law school. I did not view him, then, as an extremist; on the contrary, he was one of a handful of professors who introduced me to free market economics. But no Supreme Court justice has ever moved to the right after being appointed; not in my lifetime, anyway.) This discussion starkly illuminates the battle that will be fought over the Supreme Court during the next four years. The newspapers and television networks will tell you that President Bush's nominees, who will uphold the sovereignty of the United States and will decide cases based on our Constitution and statutes, and not some other countries', are "extreme." No one will suggest that those holding the opposite view--that American law should be decided by Europeans, Africans and Asians--are out of the meanstream. The stakes could not possibly be higher.