Justice Ginsburg
Reveals Details of Threat
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, March 15, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have
been the targets of death threats from the ''irrational fringe'' of society,
people apparently spurred by Republican criticism of the high court.
Ginsburg revealed in a speech in South Africa last month that she and O'Connor
were threatened a year ago by someone who called on the Internet for the
immediate ''patriotic'' killing of the justices.
Security concerns among judges have been growing.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter joked earlier this year that Justice John
Paul Stevens should be poisoned. Over the past few months O'Connor has
complained that criticism, mainly by Republicans, has threatened judicial
independence to deal with difficult issues like gay marriage.
Worry is not limited to the Supreme Court. Three quarters of the nation's
2,200 federal judges have asked for government-paid home security systems,
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said this week.
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.''
Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., a sponsor of one of the congressional proposals, wrote
about the legislation on his Web site and in bold letters featured a quote from
O'Connor predicting the Supreme Court would probably increasingly rely on
foreign courts.
Ginsburg pointed out that the legislation was first proposed in 2004, an
election year.
According to the legislation's promoters, the Feeney proposal had 82 Republican
and 2 Democratic co-sponsors. One supporter was former Majority Leader Tom
DeLay of Texas, a lawmaker O'Connor has criticized -- although not by name --
for harshly denouncing judges.
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.
O'Connor said last week during a speech at Georgetown Law School that the
justices have received threats. But the Ginsburg remarks at the
Constitutional Court of South Africa provide unusual detail.
Ginsburg, who turned 73 Wednesday, told the audience O'Connor ''remains alive
and well -- as for me, you can judge for yourself.''
On the Net: Justice Ginsburg speech:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/speeches/sp--02-07b-06.html
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