There is also the issue, earlier mentioned, of some benches (or individual judges in concurrence/dissent) making comparative-law or history-of-law references to how things are in non-US jurisdiction when examining some new issue brought before them. Although IIRC it has never gone beyond being an informative/comparative/illustrative/suggestive reference to become actual basis for decisions, some of the more conservative faction tend to get very rankled that it’s even brought up.
Thing is, in any case, no court in America is going to say strike down DOMA *because *there’s gay marriage in Canada, or legalize polygamy because it’s legal in South Africa, or that HCR is sustained *because *there’s caselaw to that effect on the British NHS. What, it’s going to be unlawful to even mention it?
But indeed, the RW does make a huge deal out of the possibility that this may happen (I recall candidates/commentators in the last election who proudly proclaimed their belief in “American Exceptionalism” as if something to be really proud of)
At the state level, as mentioned, it’s kind of pointless; at the Fed level, heck, Congress itself has seen fit to adopt laws first originating abroad (e.g. copyrights that seem to go on forever) but SCOTUS has at most mentioned it as reference, not basis, AFAIK.
Exactly, they’re from earlier than this country’s founding, and therefore part of a culture that came before us, not our culture. Would it be so difficult to at least go to a new sentence before contradicting yourself?
That’s an English case. England is inhabited mostly by white, (nominally) Christian folks who speak the same language as you and I. They’re not furriners.
As i posted in the other thread; the ballot measures included:
“Screw the muslims”.
“Screw the furriners and their laws”.
“English (or ‘murrican’ for all state business - we except for 20 or thirty native american languages we already recognize but definitely not Spanish or Tex-mex or whatever the hell them illegals are talking”.
“Screw NHC even though it will save us money and insure more Oklahomans”.
There is even more fun reading if you google up all the state ballot measures in this elections.