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The New York Times
Justices Rule Against
Bush on Death Penalty Case
By AP from
nytimes.com on the Web, March 25, 2008
WASHINGTON -- President Bush
overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to grant a new hearing
to 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.
The president may not ''establish binding rules of decision that pre-empt
contrary state law,'' Roberts said.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented.
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