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Congress has decided what it is that a judge has to do in this and any other case when they sentence. and that statute, that statute doesn't say look only at the guidelines and stop, the statute doesn't say impose the highest possible penalty for this sickening and egregious crime. the statute says calculate the guidelines, but also look at various aspects of this offense and impose a sentence that is, quote, sufficient but not greater than necessary to promote the purposes of punishment. and in every case, when i am dealing with something like this, it is important to me to make sure that the...

Judging. there are certain cases in which it is relied upon where congress directs or where the standard or such, the case involves a treaty, for example, and you have to interpret international law in order to be able to address it, but there are very, very few cases, in which international law plays any role and certainly not in interpreting the constitution. >> i think you probably have answered my next two questions, but if you say you have nothing to add, i'll still want to ask the questions. do you think it's appropriate to look to international law when interpreting enumerated and unenu...

Understand their arguments. and then the third step is the interpretation and application of the law to the facts in the case. and this is where i am really observing the constraints on my judicial authority. there are many constraints in our system, importantly, because judges have limited authority, and so i am, first of all, looking at my jurisdiction. threshold matter in every federal case to make sure you even have the power to hear the case. in evaluating jurisdiction, you're looking at all sorts of things, the text of a jurisdictional provision, for example, precedent related to it. if ...

Which specific constitutional pauses or rights have the supreme cowart held that can be interpreted by looking to international law? >> i'm not aware of any that are properly illuminated by reference to international law. >> now i want to go to a question that senator durbin asked. i'll probably go a little bit more, but i remember when this is about your judicial philosophy and you made three points, three steps you take to go through a case and apply the law, and you say your methodology is limited power and stay within your lane. i'd like to ask you, you served on the district court for sev...

It is submitted by certain parties, i am clearing my mind of any preconceived notions about how the case might come out, setting aside any personal views, it is very important that judges rule without fear or favor. the second step is once i have cleared the decks, so to speak, in this way, i am able to receive all of the appropriate inputs for the case. that is the party's arguments, they have written briefs, sometimes we have a hearing, sometimes we hear from other parties, amici in the case. and then there is the factual record. i'm evaluating all of the facts from various perspectives. i t...