PRESTOPUNDIT

WE ARE ruled the whim of lawless men and women with a profound contempt for republican democracy and the liberalism of America's founders. We are, that is, no longer ruled by a collectively legitimized national Constitution. Get used to it. Here's more background on Roper v. Simmons:

-- Slate's coverage of oral arguments before the Supreme Court in October:

Layton says decisions on the meaning of the Eighth Amendment should not be based on foreign opinion. Breyer asks, "Do you have any indication of whether Madison or Jefferson would have thought it was totally irrelevant what happened elsewhere in the world?" Layton says Jefferson believed the United States was leading the world but doing so through legislation, not the courts.

Scalia adds, "And what did John Adams think of the French?" Layton replies that he didn't think very highly of them ..

-- Here's the opinion of the Supreme Court of Missouri:

In 1989, the United States Supreme Court declined to bar the execution of offenders who were 16 or 17 years old at the time of their crimes, holding that there was not then a national consensus against such executions. Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989). This Court is not bound by Stanford, however, because the determination of what is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment must be interpreted in a flexible and dynamic manner ..

Posted by Greg Ransom