Whose Constitution Is It, Anyway?

What is going on here? Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in a recent speech said that decisions of other countries’ courts could be persuasive authority in American courts. At a time when 30 percent of the U.S. gross national product is internationally derived, she said, “no institution of government can afford to ignore the rest of the world.”

She is by no means alone on the Supreme Court. Six of that Court’s nine members have either written or joined in opinions citing foreign authorities. The most astonishing, or risible, so far was Justice Stephen Breyer’s opinion arguing that he found “useful” in interpreting our Constitution decisions by the Privy Council of Jamaica, and the Supreme Courts of India and Zimbabwe. Jamaica and India are far-fetched enough. But Zimbabwe — the country devastated by the blood-stained dictator Robert Mugabe! We might as well learn our constitutional law from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

About the Author

Robert H. Bork

The late Mr. Bork was a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute.

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What is going on here? Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in a recent speech said that decisions of other countries’ courts could be persuasive authority in American courts. At a time when 30 percent of the U.S. gross national product is internationally derived, she said, “no institution of government can afford to ignore the rest of the world.”

She is by no means alone on the Supreme Court. Six of that Court’s nine members have either written or joined in opinions citing foreign authorities. The most astonishing, or risible, so far was Justice Stephen Breyer’s opinion arguing that he found “useful” in interpreting our Constitution decisions by the Privy Council of Jamaica, and the Supreme Courts of India and Zimbabwe. Jamaica and India are far-fetched enough. But Zimbabwe — the country devastated by the blood-stained dictator Robert Mugabe! We might as well learn our constitutional law from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or Fidel Castro’s Cuba.