Post by CCADP on Apr 9, 2006 8:15:04 GMT -5
Law professors say foreign laws influence constitutional issues
The United States must to begin adopt the international consensus against
the death penalty and torture in order to recognize universal human values
and rights, said Michael Tigar, a research professor of law at American
University in a lecture Thursday at UT's School of Law.
Tigar, a former UT law professor, was in town to commemorate the opening
of the law school's Capital Punishment Clinic, which gives students an
academic as well as hands-on clinical understanding of issues related to
the death penalty. At least 60 people attended the talk.
Tigar discussed Roper v. Simmons, the 2005 case in which the Supreme Court
rule against administering the death penalty on crimes committed by anyone
under the age of 18, and how the role of foreign laws and norms played out
in the decision.
Robert Owen, a UT adjunct law professor who assigned his students to the
lecture, said that in light of the Roper decision, the adoption of foreign
constitutional opinions is an inevitable trend of the U.S. Supreme Court
that will influence future cases on capital punishment and torture.
At several points, Tigar was critical of the war in Iraq and said that the
Bush administration displays "an alarming moral ambiguity on torture." In
the current debate, in which some scholars and those within the
administration have OK'd torture under certain circumstances, Tigar said
lawyers must "distinguish universal rights and wrongs."
While notions of democracy and human rights in the Constitution have been
heavily borrowed from foreign documents, the American Constitution is also
a great source of inspiration for other democracies, Tigar said. Referring
to the war on terrorism, he said it is not justifiable to impose those
ideals on the rest of the world through military force.
Individual liberties, he said "are valid and important no matter where in
the world we live."
Daniel Klein, a 3rd-year law student and part of the school's Criminal
Defense Clinic, which represents indigent misdemeanor defendants in Travis
County, said that while he disagreed with the content of much of Tigar's
talk, he found the issues he raised relevant.
"He was a brilliant speaker - funny and engaging," Klein said.
Tigar has argued 7 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and more than
100 appellate cases.
(source: The Daily Texan)
The United States must to begin adopt the international consensus against
the death penalty and torture in order to recognize universal human values
and rights, said Michael Tigar, a research professor of law at American
University in a lecture Thursday at UT's School of Law.
Tigar, a former UT law professor, was in town to commemorate the opening
of the law school's Capital Punishment Clinic, which gives students an
academic as well as hands-on clinical understanding of issues related to
the death penalty. At least 60 people attended the talk.
Tigar discussed Roper v. Simmons, the 2005 case in which the Supreme Court
rule against administering the death penalty on crimes committed by anyone
under the age of 18, and how the role of foreign laws and norms played out
in the decision.
Robert Owen, a UT adjunct law professor who assigned his students to the
lecture, said that in light of the Roper decision, the adoption of foreign
constitutional opinions is an inevitable trend of the U.S. Supreme Court
that will influence future cases on capital punishment and torture.
At several points, Tigar was critical of the war in Iraq and said that the
Bush administration displays "an alarming moral ambiguity on torture." In
the current debate, in which some scholars and those within the
administration have OK'd torture under certain circumstances, Tigar said
lawyers must "distinguish universal rights and wrongs."
While notions of democracy and human rights in the Constitution have been
heavily borrowed from foreign documents, the American Constitution is also
a great source of inspiration for other democracies, Tigar said. Referring
to the war on terrorism, he said it is not justifiable to impose those
ideals on the rest of the world through military force.
Individual liberties, he said "are valid and important no matter where in
the world we live."
Daniel Klein, a 3rd-year law student and part of the school's Criminal
Defense Clinic, which represents indigent misdemeanor defendants in Travis
County, said that while he disagreed with the content of much of Tigar's
talk, he found the issues he raised relevant.
"He was a brilliant speaker - funny and engaging," Klein said.
Tigar has argued 7 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and more than
100 appellate cases.
(source: The Daily Texan)