Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Major Question: Reach of Presidential Power

From SCOTUSblog we learn:


This morning, (that would be Monday, 4/30) the Supreme Court granted cert. in Medellin v. Texas, which raises a major question about the limits of executive power. Lyle Denniston has written extensively about the case of Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican national convicted of murder and facing execution in Texas.

In September of 2005, Lyle had this post discussing the aftermath of the Supreme Court's May 2005 decision in Medellin v. Dretke. Last November, he reported here on the ruling of Texas' highest state criminal court that the President did not have the authority to direct the state courts to obey a World Court ruling on the rights of foreign nationals arrested and prosecuted in the U.S.

In January, Lyle had this report after Medellin's lawyers filed a new appeal to revisit the issue. He discussed the Goverment's amicus brief in this case here in March. And prior to the April 20 private Conference, Lyle provided additional background and context here.

Additionally, the April 16 edition of Conference Call in the Legal Times (column archive here; subscription req'd) features Medellin v. Texas.

All of the filings in this case, as well as in the earlier appeal to the Supreme Court, can be found at this link.

No comments: