John Cornyn: “I will vote against the nomination of Jane Stranch to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. While several aspects of Ms.…”

“I will vote against the nomination of Jane Stranch to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. While several aspects of Ms. Stranch's record concern me, I will be voting no primarily because of Ms. Stranch's responses during her nomination process that demonstrate that it is proper for American judges to rely on contemporary foreign or international law in interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Reliance on contemporary foreign law to interpret our Constitution undermines democracy, American sovereignty, and the rule of law. In American democracy, the people are sovereign. The Constitution was ``ordained and established'' by ``We the People of the United States.'' As Chief Justice Marshall explained in McCulloch v. Maryland, ``[t]he government proceeds directly from the people'' and is established ``in the name of the people.'' When judges look to foreign nations to find new limitations on what laws the American people can enact through their elected representatives, they undermine democracy and make the will of the American people subservient to the opinions of foreign judges. Furthermore, because there are so many sources of foreign law available in the world, judges often pick and choose foreign citations that correspond with their own personal politics, preferences, and feelings in an effort to create the illusion that the judges' personal political agenda are somehow mandated by law.”