Page 31
58. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Wilson Cary Nicholas, Sep-
tember 7, 1803, in Jefferson Writings (New York: Library of
America, 1984), p. 1139.
59. There is, however, some historical ambiguity with regard
to this issue because some legal authorities have interpret-
ed treaties as equal or superior to the U.S. Constitution.
See, for example, Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416 (1920),
in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "Acts of
Congress are the supreme law of the land only when made in
pursuance of the Constitution, while treaties are declared
to be so when made under the authority of the United States.
It is open to question whether the authority of the United
States means more than the formal acts prescribed to make
the convention" (p. 433).
60. 57 U.S. (16 How.) 635, 656 (1853).
61. 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 616, 620 (1871).
62. 354 U.S. 1, 16 (1957).
63. 133 U.S. 258, 267 (1890).
64. 169 U.S. 649, 700 (1898).
65. 265 U.S. 332, 341 (1924).
66. 485 U.S. 312, 324 (1988).
67. See Lee Casey and David Rivkin Jr., "Against an Interna-
tional Criminal Court," Commentary, May 1998, pp. 56-58.
68. 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 2, 120-21 (1866).
69. Varadarajan.
70. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, October
15, 1995, p. 1843.
71. David Scheffer, "The Clear and Present Danger of War
Crimes," U.S. Department of State Dispatch, March 1998,
p. 21.
72. Ruth Wedgwood, "The Pitfalls of Global Justice," New
York Times, June 10, 1998, p. A35.
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