CrimProf Blog

Panel at TX: International Law and Capital Punishment

Contact: Eden Harrington, Director of the Justice Center for Public Interest Law, (512) 232-7068

International Law in U.S. Death Penalty Cases: Discussion of Pending Medellin Litigation in the Texas Courts

Presenters: Sandra Babcock, Director, Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program,
Professor Ernest Young, Amicus brief co-author and Deputy Attorney General for Alabama in Ex parte Ernesto Medellin
Moderator: Professor Jordan Steiker
Date: Wed., Sept.14th
Time: 3:30 – 6:00 (with reception)
Location: Eidman Courtroom. Overflow seating and closed circuit television viewing available.

The International Court of Justice has insisted that a remedy be provided in U.S. courts for the failure to provide non-citizen defendants their consular notification rights under international treaty. The Medellin case is back in the Texas courts to determine whether noncompliance with the treaty requires the reversal of capital cases for non-citizens. Medellin will be argued in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on September 14, 2005, and Ms. Babcock and Professor Young will discuss the litigation and the broader legal issues. MCLAP is a program funded by

Mexico

to assist Mexican nationals facing capital punishment in the United States.

This event is sponsored by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, the Capital Punishment Center, the McCormick Society, the Sheffield Society, and the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law.