What's wrong with this picture?
Osbaldo Torres is a Mexican national who was convicted of the brutal 1993 murder of an Oklahoma city couple in their bed during a burglary. He was found near the scene of the crime with the victims' blood on his clothes. Torres was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He lost his subsequent appeal and additional post-conviction proceedings in the Oklahoma courts.
Torres then filed a habeas corpus action in federal court claiming that he had not been advised of his right to consult with Mexican consular officials under the 1963 Vienna Convention to which the United States is a signatory. The federal courts denied Torres relief in these habeas proceedings, culminating in the denial by the United States Supreme Court to hear his claim, with Justices Breyer and Stevens dissenting.
Torres is one of 52 Mexicans on death row in the United States whose execution the government of Mexico seeks to prevent, claiming the failure of state authorities to advise the Mexicans of their right to consult with consular officials taints their convictions. Today's New York Times reports that Torres's execution will now await further proceedings in the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
Does the ICJ have jurisdiction to prevent these executions? The United States has argued that the ICJ does not exercise any judicial power of the United States, which is vested exclusively by the Constitution in the United States federal courts. To this Justice Breyer responded in his dissent from the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Torres case: "While this is undeniably correct as a general matter, it fails to address the question whether the ICJ has been granted the authority, by means of treaties to which the United States is a party, to interpret the rights conferred by the Vienna Convention. The answer to Lord Ellenborough’s famous rhetorical question, 'Can the Island of Tobago pass a law to bind the rights of the whole world?' may well be yes, where the world has conferred such binding authority through treaty."
Understand, however, that Justices Breyer and Stevens were unable to persuade any of the rest of the Court even to hear the case. The Times story indicates that the State Department has nevertheless prevailed on the Oklahoma authorities to stay the execution of Torres pending the ICJ proceedings. I'm not going to hold my breath awaiting the outcome in those proceedings and only hope that it arrives in time to become an issue in the presidential campaign.
Coincidentally, the cover story in today's New York Post involves a Queens mother who was savagely gang-raped in Flushing Meadows Park. According to the victim, the five homeless immigrants who beat and brutalized her carried out their attack like "a pack of wild wolves in search of their prey." With one exception, all of the attackers were in the United States illegally.
The woman was sexually tortured for three hours before cops rescued her. The men were arrested and gave confessions. The Post reports that the case has been widely cited by critics of the Immigration and Naturalization Service who say the agency consistently fails to deport dangerous illegals. The victim of the rape has brought a civil suit against the city and the MTA alleging their culpability in the circumstances leading to her rape. The Post story is "Evil rape 'savages.'"
Heather Mac Donald provides a view of the big picture in the new issue of City Journal. Her article -- "The illegal-alien crime wave" -- is mandatory reading. To her City Journal article must be added her New York Post column today on "W's immigration fallacy."
UPDATE: Little Green Footballs directs us to this potent story from today's Detroit News involving the use by Hezbollah of our porous border with Mexico to infiltrate the US: "Feds: Man hid terror cash."
