Some nice rants

Attaturk is busy grinding out a last place finish at the Masters this weekend, so I'll just steal from the nice folks over at First Draft, where there is a great post from Tena.

Does the radical right really believe that our system of jurisprudence sprang full blown and unique from the foreheads of the founding fathers? Our legal system is based squarely on British jurisprudence. British jurisprudence is based upon European jurisprudence. How in the world can it possibly be considered problematic for judges to look to international precedent when that is where our legal system originated?

This is a major bee up the radical right's collective ass. I've heard it from wingnuts personally - activist judges using precedent from other countries - how dare they? Well, until the United States of America has its own planet, this nation will be a nation among others. If the courts of another country have solved a problem for which our courts have no solution, can someone please tell me what the hell is so wrong with adapting their good ideas to our system? I can promise you that no American court ever considers precedent from another country over precedent from this one. Don't believe me? Get your own fucking copy of the Harvard Blue Book and look at the hierarchy of precedent for yourself. It isn't a secret, folks.