Tribe on the Use of Foreign Law

In an earlier post, I outlined the basic themes of Laurence Tribe’s The Invisible Constitution.  One specific section that was of particular interest to me was Tribe’s defense of the use of foreign law in constitutional interpretation.  I run into this controversial practice every spring when I teach Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), and Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 51 (2005).  Interpreting the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment, Atkins banned execution of the mentally retarded, while Roper outlawed the death penalty for juvenile defendants.  In both cases, the majority drew intense criticism for citing foreign law in support of its holding.

Based on Atkins and Roper anyway — I am admittedly not as familiar with some of the Court’s other uses of foreign law — I think that Tribe is right about at least two things.

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American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force Recommends Use of ADR

As reported in the April edition of the Resolution System Institute’s Court ADR Connection e-newsletter (a great e-newsletter devoted to information on Court ADR): 

A report recently released by the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery includes a recommendation that courts should “raise thepossibility” of pre-trial mediation and other ADR processes, and in some cases should order its use. The report, conducted in association with the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, was based on a survey of ACTL members to identify perceived problems with the discovery process in the civil justice system. In that survey, 82% of respondents said court-related ADR was a “positive development,” and 72% said it led to settlements without trial. The majority of respondents also said ADR decreased their clients’ costs and led to a shorter time to disposition. These results led to the task force’s recommendation. However, the task force also noted that it hoped its other recommendations for decreasing the cost of discovery would help to increase the use of judicial trials, as opposed to ADR.

For the full report, click here.

Cross posted at Indisputably.

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Wisconsin Set to Pass Enhanced Employment Discrimination Law

WISCTV.com is reporting that the State of Wisconsin is close to passing a bill that would permit compensatory and punitive damages for violations of the Wisconsin’s state employment discrimination law:

A bill designed to stiffen penalties for employer discrimination passed the state Assembly on Wednesday, [April 29th].

The bill requires companies that discriminate against their workers to pay compensatory and punitive damages. This is a step above the current law, which lets the state order companies to rehire workers and pay back pay, along with attorney fees. This bill applies to employers who discriminate based on race, gender and other factors.

Democratic supporters say this bill punishes discrimination, while Republican critics say it will increase lawsuits and hurt businesses.The bill now goes to Gov. Jim Doyle for his signature as both the state Senate and Assembly have both approved it.

Actually, this amendment to the Wisconsin law is consistent with what happened to federal Title VII law after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (CRA of 1991). 

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