Issues > The Threat of Transnationalism

 

Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as prominent Left-leaning individuals, have become increasingly frustrated over the years with their inability to advance radical agendas under U.S. constitutional law. As a result, they have created a parallel channel through which they promote the concept of the American judicial community looking to international and foreign law in making legal decisions and establishing legal precedents.

This dangerous phenomenon is known as “transnational jurisprudence,” or more succinctly, “transnationalism.”

Transnationalism is a dangerous threat because it advances the idea that American courts should look to laws that have not undergone the political process in the United States to become law. In the USA, laws are introduced in legislative branches by elected representatives of the people (Congress and state legislatures) and, having passed, are signed into law by the elected executives (the President or governors). When courts look to international or foreign law in making legal decisions, this entire fundamental process is bypassed, indeed totally ignored.

Despite the fact that this seems completely Unamerican, it is happening more and more and there are those in the USA who are promoting transnationalism. In fact, two US Supreme Court Justices have commented that America must increasingly look to international law:

“Our island or lone ranger mentality is beginning to change. Justices are becoming more open to comparative and international law perspective.”

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

“I suspect that with time, we will rely increasingly on international and foreign law in resolving what now appear to be domestic issues.”

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

 

Perhaps the most infamous American transnationalist is Harold Koh, who is the senior legal adviser to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Koh has dedicated much of his legal career to arguing for the supremacy of international law in the traditionally domestic realm of American jurisprudence.  Several important articles were written about Harold Koh when he meandered through the congressional confirmation process. Those articles serve as a good guide to the threat to our constitution posed by transnationalism and those who promote it:

The Tyranny on Transnationalism

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=103630

Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places

http://spectator.org/archives/2008/10/08/looking-for-law-in-all-the-wro

Harold Koh’s Transnationalism: Reinventing the Constitution

http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/50275/harold-kohs-transnationalism-mdash-reinventing-constitution-part-3/ed-whelan

The most recent threat from transnationalism comes in the form of a direct threat to our 2nd Amendment Right to Keep and Bear Arms. A UN Treaty expressly designed to curtail firearms ownership is now being promoted as a backdoor method to eroding our 2nd Amendment rights:

U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms

http://blogs.forbes.com/larrybell/2011/06/07/u-n-agreement-should-have-all-gun-owners-up-in-arms/

 

 

 


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