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Medellin: It’s About the Death Penalty

by Peggy McGuinness

As the early analysis starts to pour in on the Supreme Court’s Medellin opinion, I did a quick scan of the headlines. As I have argued here and here, the case is, at bottom, about the persistence of the death penalty in the U.S. and the efforts of close allies and neighbors of the U.S. to do something about it. Check out the early headlines, which reflect the centrality of the case to the death penalty and immigration debates:

US High Court Denies Hearing to Death Row Mexicans (Bloomberg)
Court rules against Bush, Mexican on Death Row (Reuters)
Supreme Court overrules Bush, OKs Texas execution (CNN)
Bush Overruled in Death Penalty Dispute (ABC)

Of course, there are the inevitable Texas-themed headlines:

Court doesn’t mess with Texas; denies new trial (Baltimore Sun)

As we read and watch the news coverage of the case, it will be interesting to count the uses of the word “Mexican,” “immigrant,” “murder,” and “death penalty.” And “World Court,” which sounds so much more ominous than “International Court of Justice.”

March 28, 2008 -- Medellin and Youngstown
March 27, 2008 -- A Quick Response to Marty: Justice Stevens is a Foreign Affairs Federalist!
March 27, 2008 -- Justice Stevens Almost Gets It Right
March 26, 2008 -- Medellin v. Texas and Treaties’ End
March 26, 2008 -- First Reaction on Medellin, Self-Execution, Etc.
March 26, 2008 -- Comment on Medellin
March 26, 2008 -- The End of “Respectful Consideration” and the Birth of Disaggregated Deference
March 25, 2008 -- Further Thoughts on Medellin
March 25, 2008 -- Posner on Medellin: Chastening the Transnationalists
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin and the Perversion of Legal Realism
March 25, 2008 -- Making Texas Pay for Its Sins, or Why Ernesto Medellin May Live Out His Days in Prison
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin v. Texas: Another Set of Early Thoughts
March 25, 2008 -- Some More Quick Thoughts on Medellin
March 25, 2008 -- Local Lad Makes Good: Hollis Cited in Justice Breyer’s Medellin Dissent
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin v. Texas: “Modest and Fairly Careful”
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin and Congress
March 25, 2008 -- Medellín, Non-Self-Executing Treaties, and the Supremacy Clause
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin’s Lawyer Speaks!
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin: My Early Thoughts
March 25, 2008 -- Medellin: An Insta-Symposium
March 25, 2008 -- Texas Wins Medellin

See all posts related to: Medellin v. Texas Insta-Symposium

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Medellin: It’s About the Death Penalty

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