O'CONNOR: U.S. MUST RELY ON FOREIGN LAW
Justice says, 'The impressions we create in this world are important'
American courts need to pay more attention to international legal decisions to help create a more favorable impression abroad, said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OÂ’Connor at an awards dinner in Atlanta.
he 73-year-old justice and some of her high court colleagues have made similar appeals to foreign law, not only in speeches and interviews, but in some of their legal opinions. Her most recent public remarks came at a dinner Tuesday sponsored by the Atlanta-based Southern Center for International Studies.
The occasion was the centerÂ’s presentation to her of its World Justice Award.
O’Connor told the audience, according to the Atlanta paper, the U.S. judicial system generally gives a favorable impression worldwide, “but when it comes to the impression created by the treatment of foreign and international law and the United States court, the jury is still out.”
She cited two recent Supreme Court cases that illustrate the increased willingness of U.S. courts to take international law into account in its decisions.