Posted 8/10/2009

HERE COME DA JUDGE

Now confirmed as Supreme Court Justice: Sonia Sotomayor.

And what a justice she will be.

She will be the first global justice. Instead of ducking under the cover of the U.S. Constitution and American laws, she looks for inspiration and decision-making to Europe and other legally evolved parts of the world.

Although she has been criticized for this, she seems to see a reality that escapes other Justices – especially the “strict constructionist” set of four. If Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito had lived in the 19th century, they would have opposed Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and Polk’s acquiring what are now Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. If they had lived in the 18th century, they would have opposed the American Revolution, which was not supportable by a strict constructionist view of English law.

But the harsh reality of global influences on our legal system is now obvious – especially to Microsoft and Intel. Buffered by our courts’ lax attitudes toward the American monopoly laws, Microsoft and Intel prospered. But the European Union took a much harsher view of monopoly law. Both companies have been fined billions of dollars. Microsoft, after stalling for three or four years, has finally capitulated and agreed to act differently in Europe. The Intel case is newer, but the company is headed for a billion-dollar fine or different business practices.

American laws allow state and federal governments to execute criminals. Canada’s criminal laws preclude the killing of bad people. As a result, when an American criminal flees across the border, the Canadians refuse to extradite him to the U.S. unless we first agree not to execute.

If an American businessman steals $5 million here, he may serve a few years in one of our comfortable “Club Feds.” If a Chinese businessman steals $5 million, he is promptly served with “a bullet to the brain” (a Chinese phrase). This means that if an American businessman steals in China, he is going to face a very different legal system – and a very weak one. If the Communist Party decides on execution, no court in China would dare oppose its wishes. While China’s attitude toward white-collar crime may be too harsh, many Americans believe our justice system to be far too lax.

It is important for Americans to realize that, when we travel or work abroad, we are subject to somebody else’s laws, which may be very different from our own. But it is equally important to realize that foreign workers may bring with them customs and laws which are different from ours. When a foreign worker breaks an American law because he thought our laws were the same as his, our courts need to show compassion. These attitudes are vital if we are to get along in the world.

• Much of the U.S. Congress has postured angrily against “Mexican illegals.” But at the same time, the Mexican government was encouraging its workers to enter the USA, find jobs, make money and send those hefty remittances home. Some immigrants were captured with “How To Get Into the USA” brochures prepared by the Mexican government. How do we reconcile an act which is illegal in the USA, but actively encouraged in Mexico?
• There have been proposals to charge former President Bush with war crimes for his invasion of Iraq. The charge may be solid, with over 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths occurring as a result of the invasion. But the USA has refused to join the International Criminal Court, located at The Hague, so Mr. Bush is off the hook. Unfortunately, many other countries support putting our former president on trial, and regard us as hypocrites for supporting the execution of Saddam Hussein while ducking out on our own killings. The buck stops where?

In these and other areas, it is probably true that “a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not make a better conclusion than a white male who has not lived that kind of life.”

Especially if that white male is an angry isolationist who keeps yelping, “The law is the law.”

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