This past Wednesday, July, 16th, the HAGUE - The U.N.'s highest court, ordered the United States to stay the executions of five Mexicans on Texas death row pending review of their cases. Including that of Jose Medellin (pictured above), scheduled to be executed within a couple of weeks.
John Bellinger III, the U.S. legal adviser, told the UN that the federal government had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to carry out the World Court's directive and to intercede with the state courts.
Earlier, President Bush issued a directive to the state courts to abide by the decision and also asked Texas specifically to review Jose Medellin's case ahead of his planned Aug. 5 execution.
Those steps were "highly unusual," Bellinger said. "It almost never happens that the federal government enters an appearance in state court proceedings."
However, Texas refused, and in March the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that Bush lacked the authority to compel state courts to comply with the judgment from The Hague.
Wednesday's ruling comes less than three weeks before the first of the death row inmates, Jose Medellin, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection in Texas for taking part in the gang rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago.
In 1993, two young girls, 16 y/o Elizabeth Pena and 14 y/o Jennifer Ertman took a shortcut home and came upon a gang initiation involving Jose Medellin, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal. The three gang members raped and sodomized them both and when they were finished they beat and kicked them both to death.
Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Michael Mukasey have jointly written to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, urging him to review Medellin's case, Bellinger said.
The Hague is informally known as “the World Court,” and the tribunal is the U.N.'s judicial arm for resolving disputes among nations, and although its decisions are supposedly binding and final, but it has no enforcement powers.
As Al Gore once famously said, “There is NO overriding legal authority (for U.S. law).”
John Bellinger III, the U.S. legal adviser, told the UN that the federal government had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to carry out the World Court's directive and to intercede with the state courts.
Earlier, President Bush issued a directive to the state courts to abide by the decision and also asked Texas specifically to review Jose Medellin's case ahead of his planned Aug. 5 execution.
Those steps were "highly unusual," Bellinger said. "It almost never happens that the federal government enters an appearance in state court proceedings."
However, Texas refused, and in March the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that Bush lacked the authority to compel state courts to comply with the judgment from The Hague.
Wednesday's ruling comes less than three weeks before the first of the death row inmates, Jose Medellin, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection in Texas for taking part in the gang rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago.
In 1993, two young girls, 16 y/o Elizabeth Pena and 14 y/o Jennifer Ertman took a shortcut home and came upon a gang initiation involving Jose Medellin, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal. The three gang members raped and sodomized them both and when they were finished they beat and kicked them both to death.
Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Michael Mukasey have jointly written to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, urging him to review Medellin's case, Bellinger said.
The Hague is informally known as “the World Court,” and the tribunal is the U.N.'s judicial arm for resolving disputes among nations, and although its decisions are supposedly binding and final, but it has no enforcement powers.
As Al Gore once famously said, “There is NO overriding legal authority (for U.S. law).”
14 comments:
Get your story straight, Jose Medellin was the only illegal alien the rest were american citizens, but I'm not saying he shouldn't be executed. The piece of S**t deserves to die along with all the others.
Stunning statement by Algore, of all people! Equivalently stunning that we didn't bend to the "World Courts" proclaimed "authority". It sure was a well chosen case not to...
Cook 'em, et al.
i'm sure that regardless of what many feel or do not feel, the death penalty is meant as a deterrent. is it? who knows.
that is an awful story about the two teenagers. just awful. if the crime was committed on american soil where certain laws are present then i fail to understand how anyone should have a problem with medellin headed for legal death.
bout bloody time isnt it my friend!..great find JMK!:)
You’re concerned that Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal weren’t illegal aliens, Antonio? That Elizabeth Pena was 16 y/o and Jennifer Ertman just 14 y/o...not so much? Hmmmmm...I have to wonder why?
I readily admit that I do subscribe to the view that ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION has led to a rampant rise in violent crime here, although that is far from the ONLY or even primary reason I, like the overwhelming majority of Americans, support an ENFORCEMENT FIRST approach to illegal immigration and the use of e-Verify and other means to cut off illicit jobs and force the illegals here to self-deport.
I blame illegal immigration for increased violent crime, while readily acknowledging that appx. 90% of the illegal aliens here, are good and decent people, who come only for jobs that aren’t available in their homelands. You see, less than 1% of the indigenous population engages in violent crime, so, in that context, the difference between a 1% level and a 10% level is staggering, at least on a per capita basis.
Actually, DI, Gore made that statement in relation to the election of 2000, claiming there was no "overriding legal authority" to overturn the Liberal Florida State Supreme Court's initial "pick and choose" recount plan.
The SCOTUS later stepped in and ruled that only a full recount would be adequate.
It didn't apply to the SCOTUS but it certainly DOES to the hague.
I don't either Don, but many who oppose the Death Penalty on "moral grounds" feel that ANY challenge is valid.
In my view, some crimes are so heinous that they demand that the perpetrator's life be taken in response to what was done.
While I understand, though disagree with those morally opposed to Capital Punishment, I'm even more concerned about the so-called "World Court's" assault on our sovereignty.
I agree with you that I don't see whay anyone would have a problem with the death penalty for a guy who helped rape and murder two young girls - a 16 y/o and 14 y/o.
Hi Angel.
It's a notable case mainly because of the Hague involving itself in internal U.S. affairs.
The crime itself was unspeakable, and that makes it even more curious why the Hague would seek to involve itself in this.
Well, that clarifies the otherwise seemingly uncharacteristic glimpse of reality pertaining to Mr. Gore. Fits like a surgical glove, in fact. Thanks for the follow-up.
How did you get out of my comment that I wasn't concerned about the two girls that were murdered? Didn't you see that I also stated that these POS's deserve to die? I was simply correcting you on the legal status of the perpetrators who commited this heinous crime. To say that I don't care without even knowing is an ignorant statement.
I am from houston and I was about the same age as Elizabeth when this happened and as much crime that takes place there this is one incident that I will never forget. And I have been following this case and the fact that these POS'S are still alive (except for Sean O'Brien of course)upsets me , and I am looking forward to the day that Jose gets executed because it has been a long time coming and I am upset that Mexico has been trying to intervene. In my opinion Mexico should bring back the death penalty and make a new law stating that any Mexican citizen who commits a capital offense in ANY country would face automatic death penalty, because it's POS'S like Jose Medellin that give a bad name to the latin people. And im sure you figured it out by now that yes I am Hispanic, 8th generation Mexican American, and as far as the illegal immigration thing goes I do believe it something should be done and if they want to come to the U.S they should do it legally. But the racial hatred that has spawned out of this issue is something that bothers me, and it has caused a lot of anti-hispanic sentiment throughout the states. But I do appreciate your comment that most do come here to make an honest living, many others like to proclaim that all
immigrants from Latin America are violent criminals.
You're welcome DI, I just felt I needed to calrify that. Sometimes I skim through things and forget to include the proper context.
"How did you get out of my comment that I wasn't concerned about the two girls that were murdered? Didn't you see that I also stated that these POS's deserve to die? I was simply correcting you on the legal status of the perpetrators who commited this heinous crime. To say that I don't care without even knowing is an ignorant statement." (Antonio)
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You are correct.
I was wrong to assume that Antonio.
I certainly DO agree that the vast majority of illegals come here for the illicit magnet jobs that lure people to work for what, in this country, is below minimum wage and often in poor working conditions.
I don't blame the people for coming. I blame the employers who offer these illicit jobs and thereby add billions of dollars in social costs, education costs and healthcare (hospital emergency rooms) costs, while also putting a persistent downward pressure on all prevailing wage-rates in the U.S.
Illegal immigration is an ILLICIT EMPLOYER problem, rather than an illegal alien problem.
That said, our current porous border policy also allows many people who come here for nefarious reasons to also cross into this country and that is a national security problem.
I apologize for assuming that you meant something you clearly didn't.
JMK,
Did you get my E-mail? I deleted your recent post from my blog so your E-mail address wouldn't get into the wrong hands.
Yes, I did, Roady.
THANKS!
And thanks for the email.
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