Constitutional Lawyer Hopes Congress Bars SCOTUS From Citing Foreign Law
by Allie Martin
March 27, 2006
(ChristiansUnite.com) - - An attorney with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (AFA Law Center) says he is disturbed over one Supreme Court Justice's recent comments regarding those who want to prohibit the citation of foreign law in the high court's constitutional rulings.
Last month, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg addressed an audience at the Constitutional Court of South Africa. During her speech, the 73-year-old justice blasted Republican-proposed House and Senate measures that would either criticize or bar the citing of foreign law in Supreme Court decisions.
Steve Crampton, chief counsel with the AFA Law Center, feels Justice Ginsburg's comments are typical of activist judges. In fact, he says, "I think Justice Ginsburg is showing us why activist judges become activist in the first place. They simply see no limitations on the scope of their authority once they're placed on the bench."
Activist judges frequently step outside constitutional boundaries when issuing rulings, Crampton contends. He feels steps need to be taken to curb judges who routinely try to exceed the power and jurisdiction of the courts.
"What you're talking about is ultimate authority in our society," the pro-family lawyer asserts. "The question that American citizens must decide is who, ultimately, is going to govern us? Are we going to have unelected judges decide for us, in particular, the moral issues, the policy issues that are going to affect every life?"
Or, on the other hand, will Americans follow the guide that the framers of the Constitution provided, Crampton wants to know. That is, he asks, "are we going to retain the system that the founders erected and place that ultimate authority in the hands not of the judiciary but of the legislature?"
Many conservatives are unhappy with the Supreme Court's use of foreign laws in recent rulings, such as those striking down the juvenile death penalty and laws against sodomy. In light of such rulings, Crampton says a move by Congress to bar the citation of other nations' laws in U.S. high court decisions is long overdue.
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