Alito Dismisses Foreign Law as Not "Appropriate or Useful"

One of the other issues discussed on Day Three of the hearings was the citation of foreign law. When questioned by Sen. Tom Coburn (R - OK) about the issue, Alito said, "I don't think it's appropriate or useful to look to foreign law in interpreting the provisions of our Constitution."

* Sen. Tom Coburn (R - OK), questioning supreme court nominee Samuel Alito.

The New York Times reports, "The nominee was, at least implicitly, finding fault with the Supreme Court's ruling on March 1 that outlawed the execution of killers who were under 18 at the time of their crimes. That opinion, decided by a 5-4 majority, relied in part on the trend of international opinion against the death penalty, especially for youthful offenders."

* Ted Shaw, Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He is scheduled to testify at the Alito hearings today.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/12/1459242