On the recordJune 9, 2010
To suggest to anyone that you can outlaw the use of foreign or international law is a sentiment that is based on a fundamental misunderstanding. What you would be asking American judges is to close their minds to good ideas. Nothing in the American legal system prevents us from considering the ideas. That is true. The international law and foreign law will be very important in the discussion of how we think about unsettled issues in our own legal system. It is my hope that judges everywhere will continue to do this. Within the American legal system, we are commanded to interpret our law in the best way we can. That means looking to what anyone has said to see if it has pervasive value. Well, that is wrong. The Constitution defines what judges look at in considering their decisions.
