Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Northwestern University in Chicago and an attorney for Medellin, said the case was not just about one Mexican national on death row."It's also about ordinary Americans who count on the protections of the consulate when they travel abroad in strange lands," she said. "It's about the reputation of the U.S. as a nation that adheres to the rule of law."
Weeks after the decision, a bill retroactively calling for the hearings was introduced in Congress. The bill, however, remains in legislative limbo.
"Outside of Texas this is a huge diplomatic misstep," said Columbia Law School professor Sarah Cleveland. "Unfortunately, I doubt the international community is likely to brush this off as simply the actions of Texas. In the international community ... the United States is responsible for Texas' actions."Judge Cathy Cochran, of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, took a different view."Some societies may judge our death penalty barbaric," she noted. "Most Texans, however, consider death a just penalty in certain rare circumstances. Many Europeans disagree. So be it."
While some cheered Texas' decision to execute him on Tuesday, others warned that his death could render the treaty void, putting the lives of American citizens arrested overseas in jeopardy......On the other side of the street, Nancy Bailey was among those opposing the execution. Putting Medellin to death, she said, would flout the nation's treaty commitments and endanger Americans arrested abroad.
I like the way THE EXPERTS tell us that we should allow these vermin to come to our homeland and kill us without full punishment because we might be in danger when we visit THEIR homeland. Easy fix -- Don't take your money to their homeland on vacation. Be safe here, no worries there. I've lived all over the world, and there are few places where Americans are truly safe.
Mexico doesn't have a death penalty, that's why they (supposedly) freak out so much about their nationals getting the death penalty here.
