Supreme Court Ruled Against President Bush, Mexico and Jose Medellin

Today on the Glenn Beck show he interviewed Randy Ertman, father of one of Jose Medellin’s victims.  Jose Medellin was an illegal alien who brutally raped and killed two young girls, in Texas.  He was sentenced to death by the Texas courts.  The Mexican consulate stepped in.  Said he didn’t get to contact the consulate and it was against international law, blah, blah, blah.  Wanted to have a new trial.  Brought suit in the court of United Nations.  World Court said that Jose Medellin should have been allowed to meet with an official from Mexico.  AMERICAN PRESIDENT George Bush sided with Mexico, instead of his fellow Texans and Americans.  Here is the conversation Glenn had with Mr. Ertman and another guest regarding Tuesday’s Supreme Court Decision that international law does not trump American law.

BECK: Have you ever wondered what a killer asteroid from outer space would really be like? Yes. Me, neither. I don`t worry about things like that and global warming. I think about problems that are actually going to kill us all. Like for instance, how do with we pay for Social Security and Medicaid in — I don`t know — about 11 years? How do we stay solvent as a country? Details in tonight`s “Real Story” make blood shoot out of your eyes. Don`t miss it.

No, I believe that there`s some powerful forces inside our government. Boy, this is going to make me sound like a nut. They want America to become Mex-Ameri-Canada, one big multinational family. It`s the only answer I can come up with that explains all the things that are going on with our border.

I say, you know what, I`m going to roll dice with America. I think we can do it. I believe our national sovereignty is in jeopardy. But yesterday the Supreme Court helped us hold on to our sovereignty for a little bit longer. This is good news.

Back in 1993 Jose Medellin — he is an illegal alien, which is not something anybody would print in the paper today. He was from Mexico. He led a gang of boys attack, rape and murder two teenaged girls in Houston. Medellin was arrested and found guilty. He was sentenced to death. I said God bless Texas.

Then, after Medellin was convicted, Mexico brought suit in the court of the United Nations, charging the U.S. with violating the — the Vienna Convention. They claim that arrested foreign nationals, i.e. the illegal alien, be allowed to meet with an official from their home country. It`s a tool treasured by diplomats, especially ones trying to get away with murder. Mexico`s against capital punishment, you see, and they say that Medellin was denied his rights.

Damn. Too bad for him, huh?

I find it surprising and shameful that the Bush administration actually sided with Medellin and against the people of Texas. Thankfully, in a 6-3 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled against Bush, Mexico and Medellin. Texas will get to carry out the will of its people. I say have fun in hell, Jose.

On the phone with me now is Randy Ertman. His daughter, Jennifer, was one of Medellin`s victims.

Randy, I know this is — I was going to say, I know this feels like a victory to a lot of people. But for you, does it help ease anything at all?

RANDY ERTMAN, FATHER OF VICTIM: We feel a little bit more vindicated than we did before. And I mean, we lost everything else before the Supreme Court. We thought we`d lose this one. And for a change we won.

BECK: What does it — what does it feel like, or what did it feel like to have the president of the United States come out and be on the side of the bad guy?

ERTMAN: What come to our mind was, we felt like we were back in court. And instead of having a defense attorney representing Medellin, it felt like the president was sitting there with him.

BECK: I don`t even know — I don`t know how to put this. I don`t mean to be insensitive at all, Randy. And I know we`ve talked before. And I hope you know…

ERTMAN: You`re a good man, sir. So ask me anything you want (ph).

BECK: Losing your daughter had to be — had to be tough. And I can`t even imagine it. But it — how crazy is it to have gone through the last 15 years when you believe in our system, when you believe in our president, and you believe in our system of justice and everything else, and to have it all turned upside down through the U.N. and Mexico? How insane was that?

ERTMAN: We`ve been through five capital murder trials, and we`ve seen two of them get off of Death Row, because the Supreme Court voted that, if you were 17 years old and you committed capital murder, then you`re not a man. You`re not responsible for your actions. So, they were given life instead.

So after losing those two, we figured we`d lose this one. And the only way that we learned is — I mean, we used to get angry. And you know, I would lash out.

But you learn you have, otherwise you`re going to lose your insanity, that the only thing you can do is be a strong husband to your wife and, if you`re a father, if you have other children, to be a good father. And you just have to become strong and move on, you know. You can`t allow it to pull you down, like. It took 15 years to learn that.

BECK: Randy, I have to thank you so much. And I know this fight isn`t done. And we`ll be with you, and we will continue to follow it.

Congratulations, people of Texas. It`s a win for you and a win for the people of America, as well.

Ted Cruz now, let`s turn to him. He`s a Texas solicitor general. He`s the guy who stood in front of the Supreme Court and argued this case. Ted, how did this even happen where George Bush is — is talking about — we should honor international court.

TED CRUZ, TEXAS SOLICITOR GENERAL: Well, it was an unfortunate turn of events. I think the president was very poorly advised in this particular regard.

BECK: By whom?

CRUZ: The State Department. The State Department pressed the president to do this, and he took their advice in this particular case. And the Supreme Court resoundingly rejected that position.

BECK: Now, when — I`m sure the State Department was trying to make the case of, well, you know, we should play by the rules and we should — we should make sure we honor international, the international court and abide by those rules. Does anybody abide by what we were being asked to abide by?

CRUZ: No. That`s one of the great ironies here, is Medellin was arguing that the U.S. should subject itself to the world court. But no other nation in the world does what he was asking the U.S. to do.

In any other country in the world, if you have a judgment from the world court, you can`t enforce it in the courts there. And the Supreme Court held exactly the same, which is the world court has no authority to bind the courts in the United States of America.

BECK: This is really good news. Is it over?

CRUZ: Hopefully. With capital litigation it`s hard to know for sure. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected all of Medellin`s claims. The prosecutor in Houston has indicated they intend to go forward and set an execution date. And you know, you were just talking with Randy Ertman. I cannot imagine what he and his family…

BECK: Insult to injury. Can you imagine losing your daughter to a horrific crime like this, and the guy gets away — you know, starts to get away with it? And then the president comes out. Oh, my gosh. I think I`d lose m mind.

CRUZ: Well, it`s dragged on for 15 years. It`s gone twice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Twice, Texas has won in the U.S. Supreme Court.

But the victory yesterday was the most important. Because the victory yesterday really answered those who would like to see America sovereignty undermined. Because what it said is the world court`s decision has no authority within our borders. The world court can`t bind U.S. citizens.

BECK: Thanks — thanks very much, Ted. And thanks for all of your hard work in the Supreme Court.

I have to tell you. Remember — remember who that advice was coming from, our own State Department. [transcript here]

A while back on the original Michigan Redneck I posted about an email update from Glenn Beck.  It was regarding Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D take on the Jose Medellin case.  I found the post in which I copy/pasted from the email, here.  Here is what Mr. Corsi had to say. 

• Almost unbelievably, President Bush has argued at the U.S. Supreme Court that a Mexican murder on death row should be given a new trial at the demand of the UN’s International Court of Justice in the Hague, all because this illegal alien killer was not allowed to first call the Mexican consulate when he was arrested.
• At issue is the death penalty verdict for Jose Medellin, who confessed in 1993 to participating in the rape and murder of two Houston teenagers, Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. Both were sodomized and raped for over an hour by Medellin and eight of his Mexican illegal alien gang members.
• The girls made a fatal mistake. After a pool party that ended late, they decided to take a shortcut home by the railroad tracks, trying to make one of the girl’s midnight curfew.
• In their hour-long torture, one of the girls was hit so hard teeth were kicked out of her head. Medellin and his gang buddies strangled the girls to death with their belts. Medellin then boasted of keeping one girl’s Mickey Mouse watch for his girlfriend as a souvenir of the crime.
• Medellin and four others were convicted of capital murder and sent to Texas’ death row. One of these criminals has already been executed for the crime.
• Now, the Bush administration is arguing that Medellin’s confession should be thrown out because years after the crime Medellin complained that his civil rights were violated because the Mexican consulate was not invited to take on his defense.
• The Supreme Court has already rejected Medellin’s complaint once and the Texas appellate court has properly instructed President Bush that under the Constitutional separation of powers the chief executive has no authority to tell Texas criminal courts how to conduct their business.
• Medellin has now appealed the Texas court decision and the case is back at the Supreme Court a second time. This time, President Bush sent the Solicitor General to argue alongside Medellin’s attorneys that international law has supremacy over U.S. criminal law, such that U.S. treaty obligations under the Vienna Convention trump Texas criminal law.
• If Bush prevails and Medellin’s confession is thrown out by the Supreme Court, there may not be enough evidence to retry Medellin, meaning he would have to be released despite his confession to the heinous crime.
• What is at stake is the very foundation of U.S. judicial sovereignty.
• Truly, the UN’s World Court in the Hague hates the death penalty, just as Mexico is loathe to see even their worst criminals in the United States be put to death for their capital offenses.
• The case, shocking to most Americans, provides further evidence that the Bush administration under the Security and Prosperity Partnership is doing everything possible to open our borders and placate Mexico.
• If Medellin’s appeal is successful, will our law enforcement officers be required to call the Mexican consulate every time a Mexican illegal alien is arrested?
• Even worse, with so many sanctuary cities in place, the police dare not ask arrested Mexicans if they are legally here or not. So, if Medellin’s appeal is successful, the police will have to call the Mexican consulate every time any Mexican, legal or illegal, is arrested.
• Yet even this will not be enough.
• Since the police cannot racially profile, maybe we should just call the Mexican consulate every time anybody is arrested. That way we can be sure we do not violate the civil rights of any Mexicans who commit violent capital crimes while they are illegally here in what used to be our country.
• Jerome R. Corsi is a Staff Writer for World Net Daily and Author of The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger With Mexico and Canada.

Since this was copy/pasted from an email, I do not have a link to the write up.  For my opinion, go to my October 27 post, here.

Some of the legal mumbo jumbo;

March 26, 2008, 12:00AM
Supreme Court trumps executive power
President can’t force a new trial for Mexican in 1993 murders, the justices find

By BENNETT ROTH
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Texas cannot be forced by President Bush to reopen the case of Jose Medellin, a Mexican citizen sentenced to death for raping and murdering two teenage girls in Houston.

By a 6-3 vote, the court said that a memo by Bush instructing the state to comply with a world court decision for a new hearing in the 1993 case was not sufficient to require the state to act.

The dissenters, however, expressed concerns that the ruling would harm the United States’ relationship with Mexico and make it more difficult to enforce international treaties.

Tuesday’s decision will not immediately lead to an execution date for Medellin, who has exhausted all appeals and confessed to the killings of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, after they happened upon a gang initiation.

Harris County Assistant District Attorney Roe Wilson said the next step must wait until the justices resolve another case regarding the legality of lethal injections. All executions are on hold until that ruling is handed down. [more here]

ABC News has a good write up also;

By ARIANE de VOGUE
March 25, 2008

In a defeat for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 Tuesday that President George W. Bush does not have the authority to force a state to reconsider a death penalty case, even if the conviction in that case violates an international court’s ruling.

Story

Bush Administration, Texas Wrangle Over Death Penalty Case

Jose Medellin, a Mexican national, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994 for raping and killing two teenage girls in Houston.

However, the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands ruled that his conviction was in violation of international treaties, which ordered that the home country of any defendant had to be notified upon the arrest of a foreign national.

Article 36 of the Vienna Convention requires authorities to notify “without delay” a detained foreign national of his right to request assistance from the consul of his own state. At the time of Medellin’s arrest, the United States was a signatory to the treaty, but Mexico was never notified of his arrest.

Medellin, a Mexican citizen who had lived in the United States most of his life, claimed that had he known that he could inform Mexican consular officers of his detention they could have potentially assisted him by providing funding for experts or investigators or ensuring that he was represented by a competent defense counsel. Currently, there are 50 other Mexican nationals on death row in America. [more here]

Some people may be upset that I am posting negative stories about President Bush.  But what I have realised and what I hope my fellow conservatives realise, is that Americans need to be Americans first.  Not associate ourselves with a party and party leader and be zombies where if  the party says or does this or that, it must always be good.  When it comes to George Bush, there are liberals out there who think that everything he does is bad and evil.  Then there are the Republicans out there who think everything George Bush does is great. 

In issues of immigration and activities of illegal aliens, I am an American first and foremost.  If A Republican is doing something wrong to coddle illegals and/or halting progress on border security, you can bet your sweet bippy that I will speak out against that person.  If I think a Democrat is doing something good to keep out the flow of illegal immigrants coming into this country and committing more illegal acts, I will praise him or her.  In the end, it’s about what’s good and right, not what’s red or blue, or who’s an elephant and who’s a donkey.