244 As a result, the homicide statutes were declared unconstitutional as they applied to the plaintiffs and the application of those statutes to the plaintiffs was enjoined.
The Florida Supreme Court's decision ordering the recount was just that: an application of state statutes.
It was the first application of the statute to defendants not charged with selling or trafficking in drugs.
He said there was a "substantial body of case law indicating that there is no constitutional impediment to detention of grand jury witnesses, and the unquestioned application of the statute to grand jury witnesses over a period of decades".
— John McCain, a Republican senator for Arizona "It should come as no surprise that there would be some disagreements, even within an administration, regarding the application of a statute that is nearly forty years old to a unique and evolving conflict.
The fact that some of the supposedly deceptive statements were made in United States was not enough for the court, which said Congress had not authorized the application of that statute to crimes committed outside the United States.
"This is the break-in period for the new law," Mr. Borgsmiller said, adding that the exact application of the statute would depend on election board rulings on specific cases that could arise.
"It should come as no surprise that there would be some disagreements, even within an administration, regarding the application of a statute that is nearly 40 years old to a unique and evolving conflict," Mr. Schultz said.
The Supreme Court has explained that there is a general presumption against retroactive application of a statute unless Congress makes it clear that it wants a new law applied to past conduct.
But he rejected the administration's attempt to narrow the scope of the law and said the application of the statute, which was passed in 1789, should be guided by international norms with "definite content and acceptance among civilised nations".Fourteen of the cases before the Supreme Court this term and next concern America's relations with the rest of world.
