JURIST - Paper Chase: US asking Texas to rehear cases of improperly-convicted Mexicans

[JURIST] The US has indicated in a Supreme Court filing that it has asked the state of Texas to rehear the cases of 51 Mexicans whose death sentences were recently deemed improper [ruling and case materials; JURIST report] by the International Court of Justice [official website] as the accused had been denied access to help from their consulates as guaranteed by the 1963 Vienna Convention, ratified by the United States in 1969. The case of one death row convict, Jose Medellin, is scheduled to come before the high court next month. The filing by US Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement, made on February 28 but only circulated by the Supreme Court Monday, said that international law was being enforced at the discretion of the President, not the ICJ, but the move does address international criticism of the Bush Adminitration - from, among others, Mexico [JURIST report] - for disregarding its legal obligations and thumbing its nose at the global tribunal. Reuters has more.

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