Back in 1993, Jose E. Medellin was part of a Houston, TX, gang that raped, tormented and killed two teenaged girls. He was arrested and, after being Mirandized, confessed. But Medellin is Mexican, and under the terms of the Vienna Convention he was entitled to contact Mexican diplomats as well. He wasn't informed of that right.

Medellin was sentenced to death.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice ("ICJ," also known as the "World Court") ruled that Medellin's rights were violated by Texas authorities -- and Bush ordered the state of Texas to reopen the case. That's right, he actually went along with a ICJ decision!

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has now ruled that Bush had no power to enforce the ICJ decision. Apparently, they decided either that the Vienna Convention does not rise to the level of a treaty, (treaties are considered to be on an equal level with the Constitution), or that the ICJ does not have the power to enforce such treaty. Either way, the 6-3 decision (with Stevens joining the right-wing five) means that Americans who are arrested abroad will no longer be able to contact the American embassy.

So while you're not flying (see my post below), you might consider not flying overseas either.