Dubya turns against the state he governed, by trying to meddle in case of death row murderer from Mexico
Dubya continues to be a disgrace in his second presidential term by trying to intervene in the case of Jose Medillin, who raped and murdered two teenage girls in Texas and is now facing the death sentence (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin):
The Mexican government has recently been stepping up efforts to meddle in US affairs, and I figure it's really getting out of hand now. And to make matters worse, it seems that the Senate is pushing for a Law of the Sea Treaty, which would enable the worthless UN to meddle even more and to gain a bigger grip on the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. It's a law that would violate what the Constitution stands for, as Quin Hillyer at the American Spectator points out. The acronym, LOST, describes it well.
More on this from Andy McCarthy at Human Events Online (also via Michelle), and Phyllis Schlafy.
WASHINGTON - To put it bluntly, Texas wants President Bush to get out of the way of the state's plan to execute a Mexican for the brutal killing of two teenage girls.But why? The man, along with several other savage gang members, committed a cannibalistic crime, and does not deserve any sympathy, certainly not from his own country. That's exactly what's offensive about this ICJ, ditto the other countries using it on behalf of people who commit violent murders. And either Medillin did not deserve to speak to the Mexican consulate, or, they should have shunned him to begin with. Those who commit savage offenses against humanity should be disregarded by their countries of origin.
Bush, who presided over 152 executions as governor of Texas, wants to halt the execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin in what has become a confusing test of presidential power that the Supreme Court ultimately will sort out.
The president wants to enforce a decision by the International Court of Justice that found the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexican-born prisoners violated their rights to legal help as outlined in the 1963 Vienna Convention.
That is the same court Bush has since said he plans to ignore if it makes similar decisions affecting state criminal laws.
"The president does not agree with the ICJ's interpretation of the Vienna Convention," the administration said in arguments filed with the court. This time, though, the U.S. agreed to abide by the international court's decision because ignoring it would harm American interests abroad, the government said.
Texas argues strenuously that neither the international court nor Bush, his Texas ties notwithstanding, has any say in Medellin's case.
Ted Cruz, the Texas solicitor general, said the administration's position would "allow the president to set aside any state law the president believes is inconvenient to international comity."
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case Wednesday.
Medellin was born in Mexico but spent much of his childhood in the United States. He was 18 in June 1993, when he and other members of the Black and Whites gang in Houston encountered Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena on a railroad trestle as the girls were taking a shortcut home.
Ertman, 14, and Pena, 16, were gang-raped and strangled. Their bodies were found four days later.
Medellin was arrested a few days after the killings. 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 under the 1963 treaty.
Medellin 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.
Medellin did not raise the lack of assistance from Mexican diplomats during his trial or sentencing. When he did claim his rights had been violated, Texas and federal courts turned him down because he had not objected at his trial.
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.
The Mexican government has recently been stepping up efforts to meddle in US affairs, and I figure it's really getting out of hand now. And to make matters worse, it seems that the Senate is pushing for a Law of the Sea Treaty, which would enable the worthless UN to meddle even more and to gain a bigger grip on the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. It's a law that would violate what the Constitution stands for, as Quin Hillyer at the American Spectator points out. The acronym, LOST, describes it well.
More on this from Andy McCarthy at Human Events Online (also via Michelle), and Phyllis Schlafy.
Labels: Europe, political corruption, United States, White House
