Supreme Court Ruling Rebukes the President

President Bush wanted Texas to adhere to a World Court ruling and the Texas courts resisted. After years of wrangling, the Supreme Court has just agreed with Texas.

Follow this link to the original source: "Justices Rebuff Bush and World Court"

Mexican national Jose Medellin brutally raped and murdered two Houston teenagers in 1993. For his crime, he was tried, convicted and awarded the death penalty by a Texas court. After an appeal on his behalf, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that Medellin had received fair treatment and his conviction was upheld.

Because the murderer was not advised of his right to receive legal assistance from Mexico's consul, Mexico sued the United States in the World Court. In 2004, the United Nations body located in The Hague told the United States that it was obliged to reopen the case. Medellin's lawyers went back to court. The fate of the convicted murderer and that of 50 other Mexican nationals facing the death penalty in four separate states for similar crimes, would again come before the judges. JBS