Justice Ginsburg Says Supreme Court Is No Longer "lone-Ranger" in Decision-Making

The Supreme Court is looking beyond America's borders for guidance in handling cases on issues like the death penalty and gay rights, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Saturday.

The justices referred to the findings of foreign courts this summer in their own ruling that states may not punish gay couples for having sex.

And in 2002, the court said that executing mentally retarded people is unconstitutionally cruel. That ruling noted that the practice was opposed internationally.

"Our island or lone ranger mentality is beginning to change," Ginsburg said during a speech to the American Constitution Society, a liberal lawyers group holding its first convention.

I can't express how scary this is. While I don't disagree with the ruling on sodomy laws, I have very strong opinions on US sovereignity. The Supreme Court needs to look to our laws and our Constitution that provides the authority to create them for guidance -- not internationally.

Luckily she is only one justice -- and others hold the opposite view.