Why Bush Flip-Flopped on the Issue of Mexican Nationals on Death Row

The timing of last week's Executive Order requiring state courts in Texas and elsewhere to review the death penalty cases of 51 Mexican nationals was probably designed to ease upcoming talks between Mexican President Vicente Fox and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But that didn't totally explain why President Bush, whose disdain for international law enforcement perhaps equals his support for executions, flip-flopped on enforcing the World Court of Justice's finding that the U.S. had violated the Vienna Conventions on Consular Relations and that, therefore, the death-sentenced inmates were entitled to review of their cases.

A week later, another motive for Bush's pronouncement emerged. On March 7, Rice informed the United Nations that the United States "hereby withdraws" from the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. What this means is that although the U.S. will continue to comply with the provisions of the treaty requiring that any foreign national arrested outside their home country be informed of their right to contact their nation's consulate, the U.S. no longer accepts the jurisdiction of the World Court to enforce the agreement.

According to a March 10 Reuters news report, the withdrawal from the protocols was triggered by the World Court's recent, adverse ruling. "We didn't want any more of them," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was quoted as saying.

It's still unclear how the president's maneuvering will impact a related Texas case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. José Medellin, a Mexican on death row, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce the World Court order. Oral arguments are scheduled for March 28, but Medellin's attorneys have asked the court to postpone action until Texas courts hold the required hearing. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office opposes the request, asserting that neither the World Court nor the president can tell Texas courts what to do.