Rights of Foreigners on Death Row Examined

[NVMojo]

One more reason for the bushneocons to take over the courts ...

WASHINGTON Mar 28, 2005 — The Supreme Court is considering whether Texas and other states can execute 51 Mexicans who say they were improperly denied legal help from their consulates, a dispute testing the effect of international law in U.S. death penalty cases.

Justices were scheduled to hear arguments Monday in the case of Jose Medellin, who says he is entitled to a federal court hearing on whether his rights were violated when a Texas court tried and sentenced him to death in 1994 without giving him consular access.

The case, which has attracted worldwide attention, is seen as a test of how much weight the Supreme Court will give in domestic death penalty cases to the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, in The Hague, which ruled last year that the 51 convictions violated the 1963 Vienna Convention.

It comes amid a growing divide on the Supreme Court over the role of international opinion to support decisions interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Last month, justices ruled 5-4 to outlaw the death penalty for juvenile criminals, citing in part the weight of international views against the practice.

In 1969, the Senate ratified the Vienna Convention, which requires consular access for Americans detained abroad and foreigners arrested in the United States. The Constitution states that U.S. treaties "shall be the supreme law of the land," but does not make clear who interprets them.

more...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=618574

[sinkingfeeling]

1. They'd better come down on the 'culture of life' side, if they want

to remain in existence!

[Spazito]

2. With the US withdrawing from the international agreement

of the Vienna Conventions, why would anyone take a chance on going to the US where they now can be taken into custody for whatever reason and have NO right to contact their embassy?

The bush admin has ignored the Geneva Conventions, withdrawn from the Vienna Conventions and there may be more I am not aware of.

A previous article pointed out that the number of foreign students has decreased by 6% from last year and last year it had decreased by 6% from the year before. That should come as no surprise to anyone.

Edited to add an excellent article at Findlaw entitled:

Is the Bush Administration Repudiating International Law?
Its Withdrawal from the Vienna Convention's Optional Protocol and Other Recent Developments Suggest the Answer is Yes

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/leavitt/20050314.html