Here are several documents associated with pending Texas executions:

• Letter from U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, April 5, 2005, with Feb. 28 memorandum from President George W. Bush, that the U.S. will abide by its international treaty obligations.

• Letter from state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, to Gov. Rick Perry, July 18, requesting a reprieve in the Jos� Medell�n execution, to allow judicial review of international treaty obligations.

• Excerpt from the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, requiring consular rights for arrested aliens, with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution: �[A]ll Treaties made � shall be the supreme Law of the Land.�

• State of Texas responses to interrogatory concerning the history and protocol of the state�s lethal-injection method of execution, showing little or no official research into the actual physical effects of the chemicals injected.

• Affidavit of anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Heath concerning the Texas method of lethal injection, concluding, �The Texas lethal injection procedure creates an unnecessary and medically unacceptable risk that an inmate will experience excruciating pain and suffering.�

This article appears in August 1 • 2008.

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