Cato Senior Constitutional Scholar Ilya Shapiro vs. Penn Law Professor Deborah Pearlstein Debating Use Of Foreign Law In Constitutional Interpretation

I think both the common sense and only legitimate approach is that espoused by Ilya Shapiro in the debate. International law should play no role in American Constitutional law, it should only influence international legal issues (e.g., interpretation of a treaty). I thought this debate was worth posting in light of the fact that the Supreme Court in Graham v. Florida just ruled that the laws of 37 States and the District of Columbia which allowed for juvenile life without parole were unconstitutional, and the majority opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy said that there was a "global consensus" that supported this. To watch the debate for yourself visit http://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/newsroom/videoaudio/internationalLawInUsJurisprudence.html Tweet