No Stay From SCOTUS for Mexican on Death Row
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 8th, 2011 4:46 am by HL
No Stay From SCOTUS for Mexican on Death Row
The four justices (guess which ones?) who were hoping to hold off the execution of Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., a Mexican citizen on death row in Texas, didn’t get their wish Thursday. Leal was executed that evening. The argument in favor of the delay, supported by the Obama administration, had to do with Leal and other Mexican citizens in U.S. prisons potentially being unaware of the full extent of their rights according to the Vienna Convention. This contention may serve others in similar positions but came too late to change Leal’s fate. —KA The New York Times: The administration had asked the court to delay the execution so that Congress might consider recently introduced legislation that would provide fresh hearings on whether the rights of Mr. Leal and about 50 other Mexican citizens on death row in the United States had been violated. In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague found that the inmates had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention. The convention requires that foreigners detained abroad be told they may contact consular officials. In 2008, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the international court’s ruling was binding but said that the president acting alone could not compel states to comply with it. Congress also had to act, the court said. Read more
The four justices (guess which ones?) who were hoping to hold off the execution of Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., a Mexican citizen on death row in Texas, didn’t get their wish Thursday. Leal was executed that evening.
The argument in favor of the delay, supported by the Obama administration, had to do with Leal and other Mexican citizens in U.S. prisons potentially being unaware of the full extent of their rights according to the Vienna Convention. This contention may serve others in similar positions but came too late to change Leal’s fate.? —KA
The New York Times:
The administration had asked the court to delay the execution so that Congress might consider recently introduced legislation that would provide fresh hearings on whether the rights of Mr. Leal and about 50 other Mexican citizens on death row in the United States had been violated.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague found that the inmates had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention. The convention requires that foreigners detained abroad be told they may contact consular officials.
In 2008, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the international court’s ruling was binding but said that the president acting alone could not compel states to comply with it. Congress also had to act, the court said.
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A River of Misinformation on Montana Oil Spill
After roughly 42,000 gallons of oil spewed into the Yellowstone River in Montana last weekend, federal documents show that Exxon Mobil officials were not candid with the public about the length of time it took to seal the burst pipe. Records show that the pipeline took 56 minutes to completely seal, almost twice the 30-minute span that company representatives initially told federal officials and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Further muddying the waters are reports that the river has been fouled 100 miles downstream, well beyond a company claim that the spill would affect only a 10-mile stretch. Exxon Mobile has since retracted that claim. —BF The Daily Mail: While clean up crews continue to sop up oil spilled Friday night into Montana’s Yellowstone River, critics probe ExxonMobil’s response, and others worry about their property. Federal documents show it took ExxonMobil nearly twice as long as it publicly disclosed to fully seal the pipeline that spilled roughly 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, the AP reports. Details about the company’s response to the Montana pipeline burst emerged late Tuesday as the Department of Transportation ordered the company bury the duct deeper beneath the riverbed, where it is buried 5 to 8 feet underground to deliver 40,000 barrels of oil a day to a refinery in Billings. Read more
After roughly 42,000 gallons of oil spewed into the Yellowstone River in Montana last weekend, federal documents show that Exxon Mobil officials were not candid with the public about the length of time it took to seal the burst pipe.
Records show that the pipeline took 56 minutes to completely seal, almost twice the 30-minute span that company representatives initially told federal officials and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Further muddying the waters are reports that the river has been fouled 100 miles downstream, well beyond a company claim that the spill would affect only a 10-mile stretch. Exxon Mobile has since retracted that claim.? —BF
The Daily Mail:
While clean up crews continue to sop up oil spilled Friday night into Montana’s Yellowstone River, critics probe ExxonMobil’s response, and others worry about their property.
Federal documents show it took ExxonMobil nearly twice as long as it publicly disclosed to fully seal the pipeline that spilled roughly 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, the AP reports.
Details about the company’s response to the Montana pipeline burst emerged late Tuesday as the Department of Transportation ordered the company bury the duct deeper beneath the riverbed, where it is buried 5 to 8 feet underground to deliver 40,000 barrels of oil a day to a refinery in Billings.
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