Court Backs Texas in Dispute With Bush

[babylonsister]

Court Backs Texas in Dispute With Bush

By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; 10:45 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.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032501185.html?hpid=topnews

[VenusRising]

1. I was just going to post this.

You know that Bush cannot be happy that he didn't get his way on a Texas Death Row case.

K&R

[truebrit71]

2. Oh I think he'll be fine..it still results in another soon-to-be-dead brown person...

...and that's just fine by him...

[VenusRising]

3. You got me there. n/t

[truebrit71]

4. I wonder how hard he fought for this appeal?

...He must have HATED to have to try and overturn that conviction based on some stupid International Treaty...

The more worrying thing is that the SCOTUS said that it didn't matter that a foreign national was not informed of his right to contact his consulate...and apparently was actively prevented from so doing...

Don't get me wrong, it looks like this guy did the crime, and he is a scumbag of the first order, but that doesn't mean you throw due process (or international law) out of the window in the rush to convict and kill him...

[happyslug]

5. The decision, if anyone wants to read it

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-984.pdf