Citizenship in the nation

Monday night at Bible study, we were discussing St. Paul's actions while in Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts 22, specifically, his use of his Roman citizenship to obtain a fair trial. One of the discussion questions asked whether it was moral to take advantage of citizenship in this way. Another asked whether we use those prerogatives of citizenship in our own lives.

A coincidence, then, or perhaps a God-incidence, that this week I should be presented with two opportunities to do just that.

First came a request from the Susan B. Anthony List to send an email to my U.S. Representative asking him to defend the unborn by signing the Akin-Taylor letter to leadership requesting removal of the clause in the Defense Bill that would expand abortion to military hospitals. That one was easy. They provided a pre-written note to use.

Also this week, the Senate is scheduled to consider the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. The Home School Legal Defense Association sent an email asking members to write to their U.S. Senators with concerns about Kagan's possible intention to make the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child into legal precedent by referencing its tenets within a Supreme Court decision.

That would be a bad thing because, well, HSLDA has a paper that explains it better than I can.

Here's what I wrote (using some phrases from HSLDA's note to members to help me):

Dear Senator (Murray/Cantwell):

As a lawyer, a citizen of Washington State, and a homeschooling mother stationed on a U.S. military base overseas, I have serious concerns about Elena Kagan's philosophy on the use of international law in United States legal decision-making. While she was dean at Harvard Law School, Kagan instituted a requirement that first year students take a course in international law. With the world as connected as it is in the current system of things, this seems an admirable idea. Until one realizes that the new requirement meant that U.S. Constitutional law became an elective course.

This gives me great concern that Kagan believes lawyers and judges should look to international law and the laws and precedents of other countries as the lens to use in examining our own Constitution and founding legal documents. This philosophy will come in direct conflict with a Supreme Court justice’s role. Judges should not look to international law and the decisions of foreign nations in order to interpret the U.S. Constitution and apply it to disputes today.

With the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child already signed by the United States, it would be perilous to parental rights to have a justice on the court who values foreign treaties above the U.S. Constitution. This is an issue that affects every parent in the State of Washington and the country as a whole. We need a clear statement of Elena Kagan's position on this issue in order to understand how she would make decisions as a member of the Supreme Court.

Senator Murray/Cantwell, will you please question Elena Kagan during her confirmation hearings about the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and what role she believes international law should play in Supreme Court decisions?

Thank you.

Very truly yours,
Judith Riordon
Yakima
and Misawa Air Base, Japan