World Court tries to block Texas executions

A couple of weeks ago, the World Court (the judicial arm of the United Nations, more formally known as the International Court of Justice) ordered the U.S. to stop Texas from executing five Mexican nationals, ruling that the U.S. violated its treaty obligations under the so-called Vienna Convention by failing to inform the Mexican nationals of their right to consult with a Mexican diplomat.

(International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands)

According to SCOTUSblog, which has a good summary of the order and the case history:

Acting on a claim by Mexico’s government that the U.S. government has not done enough to assure the treaty rights of Mexican nationals facing execution for murders in the U.S., the World Court on Wednesday ordered the U.S. — by a 7-5 vote — to stop five imminent executions in Texas.

Leaving it up to the U.S. to choose the way to carry out the order, the international tribunal — formally, the International Court of Justice that sits in The Hague, Netherlands — told the U.S. only to “take all measures necessary to ensure” that Texas does not execute five individuals on its death row.

The World Court issued its order to assure that the Mexicans remain alive until the tribunal can resolve a new dispute over the global obligations of the U.S. government — a dispute that has already led to two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Mexico contends that those five were denied their rights under the Vienna Convention to be told, after their arrest and during their prosecution for murders in Texas, that they had a right to consult with a diplomat from their own country. The U.S. government has admitted that their rights under the treaty were violated, but it has been unable up to now to stop their executions.

On March 25, in the case of one of these five (Medellin v. Texas, 06-984), the Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that a 2004 ruling by the World Court in favor of 51 Mexican nationals could not be enforced against Texas, either by direct action by President Bush or by the authority of the World Court itself. ...

In the Medellin case, the Supreme Court had said that Congress could make the Vienna Convention binding in the U.S., but had not yet done so. ...

According to the Houston Chronicle, however,

Texas will go ahead with the scheduled Aug. 5 execution of Houston rapist-killer Jose Medellin despite Wednesday's United Nations world court order for a stay, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry said.

The U.N.'s International Court of Justice's call for stays in the cases of Medellin and four other Mexican nationals awaiting execution in Texas came in response to a petition filed last month by the Mexican government.
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In its order, the world court quotes the Mexican government's argument that "Texas has made clear that unless restrained, it will go forward with the execution without providing Mr. Medellin the mandated review and reconsideration," which will "irreparably" breach the U.S. government's obligations to the court's 2004 order.

The Mexican government reasons that "the paramount interest in human life is at stake," according to the court's order. If Medellin and the other nationals are executed without additional court reviews, "Mexico would forever be deprived of the opportunity to vindicate its rights and those of the nationals concerned."

Perry's office dismissed the argument.

"The world court has no standing in Texas and Texas is not bound by a ruling or edict from a foreign court," Perry spokesman Robert Black said. "It is easy to get caught up in discussions of international law and justice and treaties. It's very important to remember that these individuals are on death row for killing our citizens."
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Wednesday's U.N. court decision in The Hague, Netherlands, was the latest development in an ongoing legal wrangle that has involved President Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Mexican government.

In 2004, the U.N. court ordered a review of the cases of 51 Mexican nationals facing execution in the United States because they had not been allowed to speak with their nation's consular officials.

In February 2005, Bush directed state courts to abide by the U.N. court decision, specifically asking Texas to review Medellin's case.

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Bush had overstepped his authority. Chief Justice John Roberts said the president cannot order such court reviews without congressional concurrence.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., filed a bill providing for such reviews. As of Wednesday, it was in committee.

Weeks after the Supreme Court's ruling, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey jointly wrote Perry asking for his help in obtaining the reviews.

The United States, they wrote, continues to be bound by the world court's decision under international law.

Apart from the issue of Mr. Medellin's execution, the larger issue in play, as noted above, is the ability of foreign courts to interfere with US state courts. An article in Friday's Wall Street Journal highlights the international law ramifications of Texas' refusal to heed the ICJ's order:

Texas has the power to end the flap, at least in the short term, by postponing the execution and providing Mr. Medellín "review and reconsideration," as ordered by the ICJ. Yielding to the ICJ wouldn't be unprecedented. In May 2004, shortly after the ICJ's ruling, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry commuted a convicted murderer's death sentence to life without the possibility of parole, stressing that the Vienna Convention is "important in protecting the rights of American citizens abroad."

Texas isn't inclined to take Oklahoma's lead. "Mr. Medellín gang-raped and murdered two teenagers," said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. "We welcome foreign visitors, but for those who come here with the intent to do harm, there are going to be consequences."

To Ed Swaine, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, an execution Tuesday would reverberate throughout the international-law community. "It will diminish the ICJ's credibility and lessen the incentive for countries to bring cases to the ICJ in the first place," he says. "This will be a very big deal."

Having traveled to many foreign countries, I can certainly appreciate the importance of countries honoring their treaty obligations, particularly those under the Vienna Convention. Those treaty obligations, however, cannot be imposed on a state without the explicit approval of Congress, whether via Senate ratification, or, in this case, via an implementing law, as the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Medellin v. Texas.

Those interested in reading the Supreme Court's Medellin v. Texas decision can find it here.

Here's the description of Jose Medellin's crime, as summarized in the Supreme Court's opinion:

Petitioner José Ernesto Medellín, a Mexican national, has lived in the United States since preschool. A member of the “Black and Whites” gang, Medellín was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Texas for the gang rape and brutal murders of two Houston teenagers. On June 24, 1993, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16year-old Elizabeth Pena were walking home when they encountered Medellín and several fellow gang members. Medellín attempted to engage Elizabeth in conversation. When she tried to run, petitioner threw her to the ground. Jennifer was grabbed by other gang members when she, in response to her friend’s cries, ran back to help. The gang members raped both girls for over an hour. Then, to prevent their victims from identifying them, Medellín and his fellow gang members murdered the girls and discarded their bodies in a wooded area. Medellín was personally responsible for strangling at least one of the girls with her own shoelace.

As mentioned above, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., has filed a bill that, if it became law, would grant Mr. Medellin and others the reviews that the World Court has ordered (or tried to order). Passage of this bill in time to benefit Mr. Medellin appears unlikely. Texas is scheduled to execute Mr. Medellin for his crimes on Tuesday, August 5th.

According to SCOTUSblog, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court, has dismissed Mr. Medellin's latest state court challenge, and denied his writ for a stay of execution, clearing the way for his Tuesday execution (read the court's orders here). Unless Texas Governor Rick Perry grants Mr. Medellin clemency or stays his execution (both of which seem unlikely), or the Supreme Court intervenes, Mr. Medellin's execution will likely go forward.

The two girls Jose Medellin was convicted of murdering, 14-year old Jennifer Ertman, and 16-year old Elizabeth Pena, were gang-raped and brutally murdered in June 1993. After fifteen years, looks like justice may finally be catching up to Mr. Medellin.