The Supreme Court’s decision in Bond v. United States arises out of a set of facts that seem lifted from a soap opera. Yet, if the Court’s two most conservative members had their way, it would have also cut off America’s ability to conduct international diplomacy at its knees. Justice Antonin Scalia, in an opinion joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, would strictly limit America’s ability to comply with its own treaty obligations – calling into question whether foreign nations can trust the United States to keep the promises it makes on an international stage.

Much of the media coverage of Bond focused on its sensational facts – a microbiologist named Carol Anne Bond discovered that her best friend was pregnant with her husband’s child, so she sought revenge by stealing a toxic chemical from her employer and smearing it on her untrustworthy friend’s car, home and mailbox. Unfortunately for Ms. Bond, these actions lead to her being prosecuted under a federal law implementing the United States’ obligations under an international treaty banning chemical weapons. Fortunately for her, however, they also made her the perfect litigant in a test case attacking America’s ability to live up to these treaty obligations in the […]