felixthecat
April 1st, 2008, 04:08 PM
The Supreme Court Stands Alone
by Thomas P. Kilgannon (more by this author)
Posted 04/01/2008 ET
Dulles, Virginia -- The World Court got a whoopin last week when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Medellin v. Texas, which involves Jose Medellin, a death row inmate convicted of rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993. Writing the 6-3 majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts informed the wig-wearing jurists at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Texas courts are under no obligation to obey the ICJ’s ruling to give Medellin a new hearing.
Medellin is a gang member and a Mexican national. When he was arrested for, and confessed to, his heinous crime, authorities failed to inform him of his right under the Vienna Convention to notify the Mexican consulate. He found his way to the World Court with 50 other Mexican nationals who claimed a similar fate.
On March 31, 2004, the ICJ unanimously ruled that the United States violated Medellin’s rights and ordered the U.S. to “provide, by means of its own choosing, review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence.” The UN court informed the United States that its judgment was “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Guess again, said the Supreme Court.
...
Medellin is a case in point. When the ICJ issued its ruling, President Bush caved -- not to international authority, but to international opinion. “I have determined,” the President wrote to the Attorney General, “that the United States will discharge its international obligations under the decision of the International Court of Justice...by having State courts give effect to the decision.”
(Thankfully conservative Justices didn't cave in. Bush appointed them.)
...
“Our Framers,” Roberts reminded us, “established a careful set of procedures that must be followed before federal law can be created under the Constitution -- vesting that decision in the political branches, subject to checks and balances.”
In other words, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The sovereignty of the United States shall not be infringed. It is so ordered.
(Thank you Chief Justice John Roberts !)
More here:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=25784
by Thomas P. Kilgannon (more by this author)
Posted 04/01/2008 ET
Dulles, Virginia -- The World Court got a whoopin last week when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Medellin v. Texas, which involves Jose Medellin, a death row inmate convicted of rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993. Writing the 6-3 majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts informed the wig-wearing jurists at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Texas courts are under no obligation to obey the ICJ’s ruling to give Medellin a new hearing.
Medellin is a gang member and a Mexican national. When he was arrested for, and confessed to, his heinous crime, authorities failed to inform him of his right under the Vienna Convention to notify the Mexican consulate. He found his way to the World Court with 50 other Mexican nationals who claimed a similar fate.
On March 31, 2004, the ICJ unanimously ruled that the United States violated Medellin’s rights and ordered the U.S. to “provide, by means of its own choosing, review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence.” The UN court informed the United States that its judgment was “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Guess again, said the Supreme Court.
...
Medellin is a case in point. When the ICJ issued its ruling, President Bush caved -- not to international authority, but to international opinion. “I have determined,” the President wrote to the Attorney General, “that the United States will discharge its international obligations under the decision of the International Court of Justice...by having State courts give effect to the decision.”
(Thankfully conservative Justices didn't cave in. Bush appointed them.)
...
“Our Framers,” Roberts reminded us, “established a careful set of procedures that must be followed before federal law can be created under the Constitution -- vesting that decision in the political branches, subject to checks and balances.”
In other words, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The sovereignty of the United States shall not be infringed. It is so ordered.
(Thank you Chief Justice John Roberts !)
More here:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=25784