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4 - International Law as an Interpretive Tool in the Supreme Court, 1861–1900

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2011

Thomas H. Lee
Affiliation:
University School of Law in New York
David L. Sloss
Affiliation:
Santa Clara University School of Law
David L. Sloss
Affiliation:
Santa Clara University, California
Michael D. Ramsey
Affiliation:
University of San Diego School of Law
William S. Dodge
Affiliation:
University of California, Hastings College of Law
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Summary

This chapter describes the U.S. Supreme Court's use of international law as an interpretive tool in statutory and constitutional interpretation cases from 1861 to 1900. Part I discusses the Court's use of international law in statutory interpretation cases. Part II examines the role that international law played in the Court's constitutional decisions. Part III discusses the role of international law in the evolution of foreign, federal, and state sovereign immunity doctrines during this period. Part IV addresses overarching themes that emerge from the analysis in the first three parts.

International Law and Statutory Interpretation

Part I surveys the Supreme Court's use of international law as an aid to statutory interpretation in cases decided between 1861 and 1900. The analysis is divided into three sections. The first section addresses the Court's approach in cases implicating the application of congressional enactments outside the United States. In these cases, the Court often invoked international law to help justify the extraterritorial application of federal statutes. Surprisingly, the Court did not decide any cases during this period in which it applied international law to constrain the extraterritorial application of federal statutes, although it had some opportunities to do so.

The next two sections analyze how the Court resolved apparent conflicts between statutes and the unwritten law of nations, and between statutes and treaties, respectively. The analysis demonstrates that in statutory interpretation cases during this period the Court generally construed statutes to avoid conflicts with international law.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

Knox, John H., A Presumption Against Extrajurisdictionality, 104 Am. J. Int'l L. 351 (2010)
Kal Raustiala, Does the Constitution Follow the Flag: The Evolution of Territoriality in American Law 61–68 (2009)
Lee, Thomas H. & Ramsey, Michael D., The Story of the Prize Cases: Executive Action and Judicial Review in Wartime, inPresidential Power Stories53–92 (Christopher H. Schroeder & Curtis A. Bradley eds., 2009)Google Scholar
Bradley, Curtis A., The Story of Ex Parte Milligan, inPresidential Power Stories93, 105–09 (Christopher H. Schroeder & Curtis A. Bradley eds., 2009)Google Scholar
Perdue, Wendy Collins, Sin, Scandal and Substantive Due Process: Personal Jurisdiction and Pennoyer Reconsidered, 62 Wash. L. Rev. 479, 480 (1987)

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