As the 5th annual World Day Against the Death Penalty was observed this week (October 10th), a Gallup poll showed little change in the attitudes of Americans towards capital punishment, with 69% of Americans supporting it. In contrast, in the European Union, 26 of 27 members states (Poland objected) condemned capital punishment across the globe, criticizing the argument that it deters crime and arguing that it makes terrorism harder to fight by attracting martyrs.
Also on October 10th, the Supreme heard 90 minutes of oral arguments in Medellin v. Texas. Mr. Medellin was convicted of murder in Texas and sentenced to death. However, as a Mexican citizen, Medellin argued that "the state violated his rights as a foreign national to consular access under the Vienna Convention." The International Court of Justice actually ruled in his favor, but the lower Texas courts did not. While the Court's ruling in this case is going to pertain more to Presidential power with respect to the Judiciary (the Bush administration filed a controversial brief in the case), this is yet another case pertaining to capital punishment in the Court's very full docket.
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