Following an International Court of Justice deci­sion that the U.S. vio­lat­ed the rights of 51 Mexican for­eign nation­als on death row and should recon­sid­er their sen­tences and con­vic­tions, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is seek­ing to deter­mine how the Court’s rul­ing will impact the 28 Mexican for­eign nation­als on California’s death row. Of the 28 men await­ing exe­cu­tion, two are exempt from the rul­ing because they had dual cit­i­zen­ship or were advised of their rights under the 1963 Vienna Convention of Consular Relations to request help from their con­sulates. An addi­tion­al nine men on California’s death row received noti­fi­ca­tion of their rights, but the International Court deter­mined that it was not in a time­ly fash­ion. According to Lockyer’s spokesman, the Attorney General will look to the U.S. State Department and oth­er states fac­ing sim­i­lar chal­lenges to deter­mine the best course of action. Lockyer also plans to remind dis­trict attor­neys to pro­vide con­sular noti­fi­ca­tion to Mexican nation­als in cur­rent and future cas­es. Defense attor­neys, while pleased with the rul­ing, have voiced skep­ti­cism that the state’s plan of action will cure the prob­lems iden­ti­fied by the World Court. (Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2004) So far, Texas and Oklahoma, where a num­ber of Mexican cit­i­zens reside on death row, have indi­cat­ed an unwill­ing­ness to com­ply with the Court’s order. See Foreign Nationals and International Death Penalty.

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