Consigiliari Pacifica

International Politics–5-6 September 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:32:39 +0000

Of course the last two weeks have concentrated upon the developments of the two major political conventions in the USA. I am struck how, in spite of the multiple raised allegations of Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, she appears to have completely transformed the race. It is unbelieveable how much dirt her enemies have been attempting to dig, and of course, when there is nothing, It is the latest demonstration of how, when a political philosophy, can, when offered the opportunity, will show its rejection of the standards of faith in a transcendent deity and objective morality, and will seek to destroy this people’s sense of a moral center. Since noone is without fault in their lives, the left will always find their enemy’s failings. And when that is done, it is so easy to cry “hypocrite. I will not be bowed.

Hasta luego

—The Old Alcalde—

International Law–5 September 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:10:03 +0000

Beginning tonight, I am going to start a new tack in how I communicate the ideas and beliefs that I have. There are a lot of different items of interest in relation to the law in my life, but it has become clear over the last weeks and months that I am frustrated on the direction that I want to take this blog. I had even considered multiple blogs, and at times began them. The reason is simple, I have to decide how to go about telling my story each day. Therefore I am going to tell my story in one blog, as a unity, though with the diversity of the things that matter to me.

Therefore, I will begin with one of them. I am interested in the arena of international law for one simple reason: I want to help make the rule of law in the world to be the friend and enabler of freedom, not its enemy. My concern is that the creation and progress of the system of international law has been the adversary of my country’s best interests and the cause of liberty. Worse, the direction of the global legal system promises to be the plague of those who hold to the dignity of the individual and the faith of my fathers (I am a Pentecostal Christian, and my ancestry comes from Sephardic Judaism in Spain.).

In my future writings on the issues concerning international law, I will attempt to not be a mere shill for American positions when they are affected. But I will act as a patriot, and stand by the principles which, while universal in their application, are uniquely and historically upheld, enhanced, and exemplified by America. When American interests are not directly affected, I will still write when my heart and mind are stirred by what I see are injustices, and also by the decisions of international organizations and jurists which are healthy and good.

Many others hold far better credentials than I, but I am a lawyer, and therefore I am entitled to write. And I shall.

Hasta luego.

—The Old Alcalde—

28-29 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:52:11 +0000

Hello. I have been reading a number of articles having to do with international law, and I have to wonder at times what is entering into the minds of otherwise intelligent lawyers, judges, and law professors. A few weeks ago, in the case of Medellin v. Texas, the State of Texas ignored the demand of the International Court of Justice that it suspend its imminent execution of a young man who was part of a group of five men who raped and murdered 14 year old Jennifer Ertman and 16 year old Elizabeth Pena in a wooded area of a Houston park. The reason given for the alleged outrage against international justice was the failure to give the defendant access to a representative of the Mexican consulate in Houston. The ICJ stated that the U.S., as a signatory to the Consular Relations Treaty, was required to have made such access available, and not to do so makes the U.S., through Texas, a flagrant violater of the Treaty, and therefore, of international law.

The Bush administration, after first fighting against the Mexican government, who acted on behalf Mr. Medellin and his cohorts in crime (along with a number of other similar defendants in other cases), then submitted to the ICJ decision and issued an executive order, urging Texas to put a stay on their execution to review the appeal of Medellin in the light of the ICJ decision. Texas refused, not solely because of their just desire to end the life of such a sadistic killer, but most of all, because the defendant was given all the required notice of his rights to an attorney and to be free from self-incrimination, which are required by the United States Constitution. The rapist-killer’s confession, which was in fact an arrogant boast that left hardened police investigators appalled at the lack of remorse he expressed, was made after he was given his required warnings in Spanish. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals pointed out that Medellin waived his rights as he boasted of his horrible deed, and that under U.S. Supreme Court decisions going back almost half a century, there was nothing else that access to the Mexican consul would have produced. The Texas court, after doing the required harmful error analysis of the slight, which no American criminal court had ever before even considered as a requirement, held that Medellin’s confession was acceptable, that no error had been committed at all, and that even if one had been committed, that no harm resulted.

The Mexican government, acting on its own for Medellin, and on behalf of the ICJ, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to order Texas to rescind its decision based upon alleged violation of the Consular Treaty. Herein the appeal made a move that was a serious tactical error, borne out of an ideological motive that no U.S. court or self-respecting judge should accept. Instead of arguing that the alleged violation of the Consular Treaty was a violation of a federal law that was, therefore a violation of the U.S. Constitution, Mexico and the ICJ urged the Supreme Court to reverse the Texas decision based solely upon the alleged violation as a breach of international law, which the ICJ asserted was superior to all other American law, including the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, by a 6-3 decision, denied the demands of the ICJ and of Mexico, reminding them, and the Bush administration, that unless an international treaty was “self-executing” (binding once the treaty is signed by the President and ratified by the U.S. Senate), it was up to Congress to enforce the terms of a treaty by appropriate legislation, under the U.S. Constitution. The Vienna Consular Treaty was not self-executing by its terms, and therefore had to be enforced by separate laws passed by Congress. The Court instructed the international litigants on this and any other similar case of one overriding principle: the United States of America is to be governed by the Constitution of the United States, over everything else. The Vienna Treaty, and by association the United Nations Charter and any other international treaty, has the force of law equal to an act of Congress when ratified by Congress, but they are subject to the United States Constitution, within the borders of the United States. No error by Texas, and Medellin was justly and rightly executed for his heinous crime on the 8th of August.

The world media, including the publications put out by international legal organizations, either ignored that salient principle, or condemned it roundly, saying that the U.S. is hypocritical and, in effect, is a renegade, a lawless nation, defiant of the world legal order. Most legal news stories focused on the narrow issue of whether the treaty was self-executing as signed, and mocked that issue as petty and a sly attempt by the Supreme Court majority to avoid reversing a death penalty conviction they wanted to see carried out by Texas.

I am concerned that Medellin will be the first of many cases where the international legal system, and those who would use it, will seek to undermine the power of the U.S. Constitution. Americans look upon its two founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, America’s organic formative law, with an awe and reverence that approaches the devotion expressed by the followers of Christ, Moses, and Mohammed toward the Bible and the Koran. To many who support the further development of a global legal order, such patriotic loyalty is a threat. It is their intent to end such preeminence by America’s founding documents over her system of law and justice.

Such fear and suspicion is unfortunate, for the preservation of the delicate balance between national sovereignty and international community is vital to preserve both order and liberty. A cooperative global community is a plus, one that is imposed is not. The attempt of the litigants to avoid accountability to the Constitution was an act of hubris that was a strategic mistake. No doubt, more to come.

Hasta luego.

—The Old Alcalde—

26 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:20:42 +0000

Well, here I am. Inconsistent as usual. I don’t know if it’s the lack of activity between Supreme Court terms, or if it’s just a lack of work or just ennui, but I have practically nothing to say. I’ll have to look up what’s what in the world of international law, if anything that’s acceptable for me to write about.

Later.

—The Old Alcalde—

21-22 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:35:04 +0000

Well, I have been alternating between watching the Olympics and watching all the things I have had to learn in my newly-revived practice. I will say this, I am finding that the suspicions I have had about the problem of illegal immigration is becoming increasingly true. There are too many people who are called “illegal” who frankly should not be. We had a broken system that turns decent people who simply want to live a better life, who aren’t hurting anyone else, into criminals living like fugitives, while too many people turn from sensible, God-fearing people into irrational nativists, willing to destroy the lives of those who had done them no harm out of an understandable but misguided fear of undermined national unity and identity. I also see that there are others who are exploiters and criminals, who really do need to be found out and deported. We do need a reasonably open and welcoming society, but one that is a LOT better regulated and secured than it is now.

More to come later. Hasta al pronto.

—The Old Alcalde—

20-21 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:49:27 +0000

I have to confess that there is very little of which I feel like discussing. I am working, obtaining new clients, staying busy. The Olympics give me more interesting moments than anything from the wires about international law. I’m not bored, just nothing has got my attention yet. More to come tomorrow.

—The Old Alcalde—

19-20 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:45:35 +0000

I am back. The probable re-igniting of the Cold War, Olympics, U.S. presidential campaign, continued war in Afghanistan (won but now re-igniting) and in Iraq (virtually won and winding to a close), threats of war with Iran, the neglect of the genocide in Darfur, a massive world economic crisis affected by costly oil, mass home foreclosures and credit-equity crunch, AIDS, continued abortion at the rate of 146,000 per day–all of this and my own hopes and my life as well–such is the world as I see it now. It makes it difficult to decide what to write about. I have an idea, though, and I’ll start it tomorrow.

Hasta luego.

—The Old Alcalde—

7-8 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:23:02 +0000

I am relieved that there seems to be progress in the U.S. Congress toward greater opportunity for immigrants with good family ties and reputable and honest employers willing to obey our laws and follow our rules and assimilate into America to have the chance to immigrate legally. A bill (proposed law) has been introduced into both the House and Senate, that would cause all visa slots for which people were eligible that were lost between 1992 and 2007 to be “recaptured”, resulting in more than 500,000 additional slots to be available for legal immigrants this year, and with that the precedent to allow that many more each year afterward. It will be especially helpful for employers in high-tech industries, suffering critical shortages in qualified employees, to get the employees they need.

I noticed that Mr. Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s former driver and member of the Al Qaeda organization was sentenced, for his role in the organization’s terrorist activities, for which a military commission jury found him guilty, to a term of 5 1/2 years in prison. And since the military judge, in his discretion, gave Mr. Hamdan to credit for time served since captured in 2002, he will serve a grand total of 5 months! So much for the notion that a military commission court system in trying enemy combatants is somehow inherently an injustice, and that noone can get a fair trial in them. Will the world press give the U.S. Defense and Intelligence departments the credit they deserve and clear at least this much of the story.

There will be more tomorrow. Hasta a la manana.

—The Old Alcalde—

6-7 August 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:27:05 +0000

June 13th. The last time I entered a post. The world appears to be turned on its head. $148 per barrel oil, only now $118, and maybe soon back to where it was a year ago? The world teetering on the edge of war–while we’re at a party–that is, if you want to call mass foreclosures, a global credit system on the brink of collapse, with the American government and its central bank trying to prevent it by making unprecedented moves to back financial lenders and homeowners, all the while being attacked by the President’s own party for forgetting about a legalistic clinging to a strict view of free markets and constitutional barriers to his actions. Of course they forget that homelessness and depression renders constitutional and ideological faithfulness cold comfort to the masses. And yes, I vote conservative Republican. It’s just not a suicide pact to me.

Our own home is certainly no exception. Our most cherished pet, a tuxedo tomcat we nicknamed “the Kittydog”, named Jabez, died three weeks ago. It was sudden, and it was heartbreaking. Seven years ago we took him in from the wild, sick with feline leukemia. At two years old plus, he was already considered so sick that the veterinarian to which we took him wanted to put him down right then. Gail would have none of it, though. Seems that our old tomcat Dijibouti, who had run away to go feral at age 11, and who had supposedly been spayed 8 years earlier, didn’t get a complete job, and had been begetting seed with all the little girl cats in the feral colony that lived in the canyon near our home at the time. And Jabez was the first, and I mean, he was a virtual clone of the old man. So Gail decided to care for Jabez, as long as he could stay functional. And he was–for another 7 years, until he was 9 1/2. The attending vet 3 weeks ago said that it was 1/100,000 that a cat could live that long with FLV.

And Jabez was a jewel, a real joy. Many cats and dogs are like family members, almost human. Both Dijibouti and Jabez after him were just so much more. They truly were larger than life, a force of nature. Sometimes it felt like they had adopted us. And now they’re both gone. So that has brought a lot of sadness in our home. But, we move on.

There will be more on the law, long overdue to do, and long-awaited business contracts and contacts have made reentering the practice of law a necessity. But I will have to do a lot more digging to make for cases that will be entertaining to discuss. But I’ll try. As they say, “I have my sources.”

Well, I’ll be back tomorrow. Adios.

—The Old Alcalde—

13 June 2008

consigiliaripacifica — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:58:10 +0000

I have not been as bothered by too many judicial decisions as much as the Supreme Court’s decision announced today in Boumedienne v. United States. A 5-4 majority has decided that terrorists, taken from foreign battlefields and in Al Qaida terrorist conspiracy networks in foreign countries and held at the Guantanamo Bay prison, at the U.S. Marine Base, have the right under the U.S. Constitution to petition civilian U.S. courts under the extraordinary writ of habeas corpus, to challenge the reasons for their detention. Such a decision is unprecedented, if nothing else, for the reason that these detainees could have the right to force the U.S. CIA to disclose classified information, unredacted, of all the evidence for their detention, especially that of any human intelligence (def.: informants) to the individual detainee. In turn, the now-declassified information can be turned over, by way of the detainee’s attorney, to activists groups hostile to the USA, and worse, to the detainee’s own colleagues in the Islamist terrorist networks.

It has become increasingly clear that this country, especially the mainstream media and the ACLU, have shown themselves virtually traitorous. Well, more tomorrow. Hasta a la manana.

—The Old Alcalde—