The American Spectator

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TREATY TRICKS br> Re: William J. Watkins, Jr.'s Keep U.N. Justice Out of the U.S. : /p>

I would offer that Americans have not had any real view of the treaties that its government has been signing around the world. The number is enormous, and their impact grave and expansive. Especially in the area of copyright and patent law.

But one thing is clear, if we were to opt out of the international community and fail to conform our laws and comply our courts to the treaties our government has signed, particularly those that deal with or impact on human rights of foreign nationals within our borders, then we should expect Americans to be similarly treated abroad.

No way can I support trumping international treaty law with domestic law, by constitutional amendment or by congressionally generated statute. Change the treaty, or don't sign it, but do not change the American Constitution to block out the impact of treaties our nation has signed.

The problem here is agreeing to treaties, without first putting them to the scrutiny of the people in America. Congressional review of treaties is very limited most of the time, and public review in the media is even more limited, in fact constitutional treaty activities are many times confined to the executive until time to sign or approve them.

Personally, I think treaties are so important that they should be approved not by the Congress, the executive, the court, or even a highly skilled team, but by the people in a general election.

The answer is not to amend our Constitution but to do better and more careful consideration of the domestic impact of international treaties before they are signed.

If the Constitution needs to be amended to correct this type of problem then amend the powers of the executive and force that branch to submit to a much broader domestic interest review before they sign off. Do not alter the operation of the Constitution to ignore worldwide law and treaty commitments which our leaders have penned.

I am afraid the international community is gaining on nation states, and soon the international community will develop its own supremacy policy, so even if the Constitution is amended, it will still be trumped. Our world has changed and so too must our view of it.

p>Thank you for the review article of the situation. br> --

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