Despite Bush Directive, Texas Court Says Death For Mexican National Who Raped and Murdered Teens

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that President G. W. Bush has exceeded his Constitutional authority when he sent a memo directing state courts to comply with a world court ruling that would bar the U.S. from giving the death penalty to foreign nationals illegally in the U.S. who commit horrific crimes. There are currently 51 Mexican nationals on death row in the U.S..

The Texas court ruling stems from the case of Jose Ernesto Medillin, an illegal alien convicted for the brutal rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993. Texas courts have ruled he should be executed. The World Court has ruled that U.S. courts should not execute any of the Mexican nationals on U.S. death rows. Mr. Bush has sided with the World Court with a memo directing state courts to comply with the World Court.

The Texas Supreme Court has decided that the Bush directive has stepped into state matters that are beyond his constitutional purview. But the issue is not concluded. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is infamous for saying that Supreme Court rulings should be based on International Law rather than the U.S. Constitution exclusively, has warned that they may take the case back up- possibly also ruling that the state court must comply with the world court.