Posted on 03/25/2008 5:22:50 PM PDT by personalaccts
Court Backs Texas in Dispute With Bush
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10:04 AM
WASHINGTON -- President Bush overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to reopen the case of a Mexican on death row for rape and murder, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.
In a case that mixes presidential power, international relations and the death penalty, the court sided with Texas 6-3.
Bush was in the unusual position of siding with death row prisoner Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican citizen whom police prevented from consulting with Mexican diplomats, as provided by international treaty.
An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country's consular officials. The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.
Bush, who oversaw 152 executions as Texas governor, disagreed with the decision. But he said it must be carried out by state courts because the United States had agreed to abide by the world court's rulings in such cases. The administration argued that the president's declaration is reason enough for Texas to grant Medellin a new hearing.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, disagreed. Roberts said the international court decision cannot be forced upon the states.
The president may not "establish binding rules of decision that pre-empt contrary state law," Roberts said. Neither does the treaty, by itself, require individual states to take action, he said.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented.
The international court judgment should be enforced, Breyer wrote. "The nation may well break its word even though the president seeks to live up to that word," he said.
Justice John Paul Stevens, while agreeing with the outcome of the case, said nothing prevents Texas from giving Medellin another hearing even though it is not compelled to do so.
"Texas' duty in this respect is all the greater since it was Texas that - by failing to provide consular notice in accordance with the Vienna Convention - ensnared the United States in the current controversy," Stevens said.
Medellin was arrested a few days after the killings of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. He was told he had a right to remain silent and have a lawyer present, but the police did not tell him that he could request assistance from the Mexican consulate.
Medellin, who speaks, reads and writes English, gave a written confession. He was convicted of murder in the course of a sexual assault, a capital offense in Texas. A judge sentenced him to death in October 1994.
Texas acknowledged that Medellin was not told he could ask for help from Mexican diplomats, but argued that he forfeited the right because he never raised the issue at trial or sentencing. In any case, the state said, the diplomats' intercession would not have made any difference in the outcome of the case.
State and federal courts rejected Medellin's claim when he raised it on appeal.
Then, in 2003, Mexico sued the United States in the International Court of Justice in The Hague on behalf of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row in the U.S. who also had been denied access to their country's diplomats following their arrests.
Mexico has no death penalty. Mexico and other opponents of capital punishment have sought to use the court, also known as the World Court, to fight for foreigners facing execution in the U.S.
Forty-four Mexican prisoners affected by the decision remain on death row around the country, including 14 in Texas. One Mexican inmate formerly facing execution now is imprisoned for life because of the Supreme Court decision outlawing capital punishment for anyone under 18 at the time the crime was committed.
Bush has since said the United States will no longer allow the World Court to judge the consular access cases because of how death penalty opponents have tried to use the international tribunal.
© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LOL
Excellent article
Jorge can try to help an illegal that killed two girls, but he’ll let Ramos, and Compeon rot in jail. What is wrong with this picture?
Sounds like he did exactly the right thing here in order to get a SCOTUS opinion that now cannot be contested.
What part of that was wrong?
I really would like to believe he’s that clever, but these days that’s kind of hard.
bttt
You've been bombarded for 8 years with anti-Bush crap from the MSM and the self appointed elite.
Look at the facts for yourself:
He went to hell and back getting Roberts appointed.
He was confronted by a outright hostile congress and weak or no Republican congressional support for the majority of those years and still got nearly everything he set out to do, done.
He said what he was going to do and did it with respect to the Iraq war. (Even Saddam Hussein was fooled because he expected a lilly -livered clintoon type response)
Give the man some credit...loyalty is not a character flaw.
I want to know who isn't exactly clear that Jorge has obviously sold his soul regarding the border issue. The evidence is already crystal clear and absolute that the fix is in: Bush has hamstrung the Feds and the local border law enforcement has been threatened. The example of persecution/prosecution of poor Ramos & Compeon is clear evidence that Jorge wants an open border for murderers, rapists and terrorists, PERIOD! There is no other way to look at this mess.
I wanted to believe.
Sadly, I now know the truth.
LOL, now if only you could bubble in some racist remarks in the head/mouth area!
“See ya at the signing.”
Lou Dobbs devoted a segment of his show tonight to this story. It is has not got any mention on any other prime time cable news shows that I have seen. That is sad. Jorge may bow and kneel to some stupid world court, but it is good news for Americans that other governmental entities in this county pay him no heed.
I pay a huge amount of taxes but less than they could be.
We are on the threshold of reversing Roe V Wade in the SCOTUS.
Read the STRATFOR analysis on Iraq and the GWOT to see an unbiased analysis of the past 5 years there.
Finally we live among 'em in Arizona. You can't rell me anything I can't see for myself about immigration. That problem has been ignored by every president since Roosevelt. Bush doesn't own it, only a piece of it. I see the fence that is there, I see many more Border Patrol agents, I see the National Guard on the border. They didn't show up until the past few years. Who gets credit for that?
You are Exactly right!
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