l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Mexican Citizen Executed After Court Declines to Intervene
Texas executed a Mexican national whose prosecution violated U.S. treaty
obligations soon after the Supreme Court refused to intervene Thursday.
U.S. high court clears the way for Mexican man, convicted of rape, to be
executed in Texas. Video Courtesy of Reuters.
Humberto Leal Garcia, 38 years old, was convicted of the 1994 rape and
murder of a 16-year-old girl. He had asked the court to stay his execution
while Congress considered legislation that could have granted him a chance
to raise the treaty issue before a federal judge. The Obama administration
backed Mr. Leal's request, citing "serious repercussions for United States
foreign relations" should the execution proceed.
The court said no by a 5-4 vote, dividing along its conservative-liberal
line. Texas Gov. Rick Perry had earlier declined a clemency petition.
The Mexican government said in a statement Thursday night that it "strongly"
condemned the execution.
Mr. Leal contended that Texas authorities violated the 1963 Vienna
Convention after his arrest when they failed to advise him of his right to
assistance from his home country's consulate or embassy.
Texas and other states routinely have failed to advise foreigners as
required under the treaty. In 2004, the International Court of Justice,
which the U.S. had agreed could review disputes under the treaty, said
condemned inmates should have an additional hearing to consider whether the
denial of consular rights had prejudiced their trials.
Former President George W. Bush reacted by withdrawing the world court's
jurisdiction over future Vienna Convention disputes involving the U.S. But
the administration said states should obey the 2004 rulings.
Some states took steps to comply, including Oklahoma, whose governor
commuted a death sentence to life imprisonment. Texas, however, defied its
former governor, asserting that President Bush had no authority to compel
the state to grant the hearings.
In 2008, the Supreme Court agreed the U.S. had an international-law
obligation to obey the world court, which sits in The Hague and is the
principal judicial arm of the United Nations. But it held that federal
courts were powerless to make Texas comply unless Congress passed additional
legislation to enforce the world court judgment.
Last month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.)
introduced a bill giving federal courts jurisdiction to hear Vienna
Convention claims, and the Obama administration said the execution should be
put off while the measure was pending.
The Supreme Court majority, in an unsigned opinion, said that wasn't good
enough.
"We are doubtful that it is ever appropriate to stay a lower court judgment
in light of unenacted legislation. Our task is to rule on what the law is,
not what it might eventually be," the court said.
The court was unmoved by government warnings of diplomatic consequences,
including adverse treatment of Americans arrested overseas.
The issue has been around for years, the court said, and "Congress evidently
did not find these consequences sufficiently grave to prompt its enactment
of implementing legislation."
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy,
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito comprised the majority.
In dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that Mr. Leal's petition should be
put on hold until the court reconvenes in the fall, giving Congress a chance
to consider the implementing legislation.
The majority "ignores the appeal of the President in a matter related to
foreign affairs, it substitutes its own views about the likelihood of
congressional action for the views of Executive Branch officials who have
consulted with Members of Congress, and it denies the request by four
Members of the Court to delay the execution until the Court can discuss the
matter at Conference in September," Justice Breyer wrote. He was joined by
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. | d****i
发帖数: 4354 | 2 高院的裁决也很重要：
"We are doubtful that it is ever appropriate to stay a lower court judgment
in light of unenacted legislation. Our task is to rule on what the law is,
not what it might eventually be," the court said.
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Mexican Citizen Executed After Court Declines to Intervene
: Texas executed a Mexican national whose prosecution violated U.S. treaty
: obligations soon after the Supreme Court refused to intervene Thursday.
: U.S. high court clears the way for Mexican man, convicted of rape, to be
: executed in Texas. Video Courtesy of Reuters.
: Humberto Leal Garcia, 38 years old, was convicted of the 1994 rape and
: murder of a 16-year-old girl. He had asked the court to stay his execution
: while Congress considered legislation that could have granted him a chance
: to raise the treaty issue before a federal judge. The Obama administration
: backed Mr. Leal's request, citing "serious repercussions for United States
| l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 3 同意, 几个liberal的法官根本不可理喻.
judgment
【在 d****i 的大作中提到】
: 高院的裁决也很重要：
: "We are doubtful that it is ever appropriate to stay a lower court judgment
: in light of unenacted legislation. Our task is to rule on what the law is,
: not what it might eventually be," the court said.
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