According to an
Associated Press story, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed in a speech in South Africa last month that she and then-fellow justice Sandra Day O'Connor were recipients of death threats from the "irrational fringe" of society.
I searched appropriate tags and did not find another diary on this speech. The story is dated March 15. If another diary on this has been written, I'll be glad to delete.
Ginsburg said the Web threat was apparently prompted by proposals in Congress, filed by Republicans, that tell judges to stop relying on foreign laws or court decisions.
"It is disquieting that they have attracted sizable support. And one not-so-small concern - they fuel the irrational fringe," she said in a speech posted online by the court earlier this month and first reported Wednesday by LegalTimes.com.
According to Ginsburg, someone in a Web site chat room wrote: "Okay commandoes, here is your first patriotic assignment ... an easy one. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and O'Connor have publicly stated that they use (foreign) laws and rulings to decide how to rule on American cases. This is a huge threat to our Republic and Constitutional freedom. ... If you are what you say you are, and NOT armchair patriots, then those two justices will not live another week."
And then we have Ann Coulter adding fuel to the fire by "joking" (or so she says) about poisoning Judge Stevens.
The two justices are not alone. According to the story, three-quarters of the nation's 22,000 federal judges have asked for government-paid home security systems.
Justices, in some of their most hotly contested rulings, have looked overseas. Last year, for example, justices barred the executions of juvenile killers on a 5-4 vote. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said then that "it is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty." DeLay called the ruling outrageous. He also suggested that the House consider impeaching some judges.
In an angry dissent to that decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said capital punishment policy should be set by states, not "the subjective views of five members of this court and like-minded foreigners."
Ginsburg said, "Critics in Congress and in the media misperceive how and why U.S. courts refer to foreign and international court decisions." She said those decisions are used for guidance only.
Tom Delay called the ruling outrageous? Well, Mr. Delay - I believe YOU are the outrageous one. YOU are the one taking money under the table. You and your sneaky, underhanded Republican friends.