Patterico's Pontifications

12/7/2008

Mexico: No Death Penalty When U.S. Citizens Are Killed, But If Our Citizens Start Dying . . .

Filed under: Crime,General,International — Patterico @ 1:46 pm



The L.A. Times reports: Some in Mexico want the death penalty reinstated. Michelle Malkin wryly observes:

That’s right. Members of the same foreign government that took America to court over our death penalty laws– and tried to block the state of Texas from executing illegal alien Death Row murderers — are now open to the idea of imposing the death penalty on the thugs on their own soil.

Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?

Uh, yeah. Also keep in mind that they refuse to extradite criminals to the United States if we are seeking the death penalty. When Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David March was killed by an illegal immigrant who fled to Mexico, Mexico refused to extradite him until Steve Cooley promised not to seek the death penalty.

But now that Mexican cops are getting killed by the drug cartels, many in Mexico are singing a different tune.

7 Responses to “Mexico: No Death Penalty When U.S. Citizens Are Killed, But If Our Citizens Start Dying . . .”

  1. So “some” “members of the…government” want to see a law changed? Why, that’s the very definition of irony!

    Nels (3e56d7) — 12/7/2008 @ 2:36 pm

  2. This post and especially your earlier post show how hard things are for Mexico and its citizens now, and I feel bad for them. But it could also be a positive sign for the future of Mexico because these incidents show how the violence is affecting the leaders and upper class Mexicans, people who have been largely immune from such problems in the past. Now they will have an incentive to try to fix the problems instead of ignore them. I hope they do.

    DRJ (b4db3a) — 12/7/2008 @ 3:30 pm

  3. As you pointed out so well in your other posts, Patterico, the violence has now reached areas where it affects the wealthy rulers of Mexico.

    They are now worried about covering their own asses, which explains the new ‘get tough’ attitude.

    The country of Mexico is a scam, and the corruption there is the reason for the lack of border enforcement for the US. Too many on the payroll on both sides of the border, along with the PC cries of ‘racism’ (to quote JD) that distract from discussion of the true problem – that Mexico is ruled by a collection of corrupt thieves.

    Apogee (366e8b) — 12/7/2008 @ 3:37 pm

  4. A step in the right direction deserves applause…

    SteveG (a87dae) — 12/7/2008 @ 3:59 pm

  5. Why pick on Mexico? The practice of refusing to extradite killers who face the death penalty is pretty standard among countries that don’t have the death penalty. If Mexico actually does reinstitute the death penalty, and then continues to refuse to extradite those who face it here, then by all means, attack them for their gross hypocrisy then.. Doing so now is tantamount to complaining about the fact that some Mexicans support the death penalty while others support it.

    Xrlq (e0ec4f) — 12/7/2008 @ 8:21 pm

  6. The death penalty?! In Mexico??

    Oh, hell, thanks in part to allowing their country to be run for decades by their version of Democrats and liberals — and the type of judges appointed thereof — the people of Mexico are, and have been, pushovers when it comes to lesser forms of punishment:

    by Rodrigo Labardini

    Since October 2nd, 2001, the date on which Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ruled that life imprisonment is an unusual and transcendental punishment and thus forbidden by article 22 of Mexico’s constitution, Mexican courts have applied SCJN’s decision in an irregular and inconsistent manner.

    …The issue of life imprisonment is new in Mexico and has only been considered in matters related to extradition. Mexico’s Constitution and legislation are silent on the matter. These factors may explain why the courts have applied SCJN’s 2001-ruling in an inconsistent manner. Further, U.S. officials believe Mexican courts have applied the non-life imprisonment assurances requirement too broadly. This has become a serious concern for the U.S. for preventing high-level drug traffickers and some of those alleged to have committed the most heinous state crimes from being extradited.

    …Additionally, almost all sectors in Mexico want the death penalty formally abolished from the Constitution. Some have called to substitute it with life imprisonment in Mexico. Others consider this proposal a step backwards in the promotion and respect of human rights in Mexico because even if the death penalty is imposed in Mexico for serious military offenses, it is routinely commuted by the President for a period of years of incarceration.

    …Justice Diaz Romero reiterated his 2001 position on the unconstitutionality of life imprisonment because there is no way to compatibilize life imprisonment with having work and education for the inmate’s social re-adaptation. He expounded that while he does not believe that social re-adaptation may take place in a 100-year old inmate after a 70-year sentence, the issue at hand is the analysis of secondary legislation and processes vis-à-vis a constitutional principle.

    On the other hand, Justice Cossio Diaz, recently appointed to the court, considered that life imprisonment is an unusual punishment, and therefore prohibited by CPEUM-art. 22, because Mexico’s legislation does not provide for it. He argued that sentences in excess of a natural life span are a legal technical problem to be dealt with in another occasion. Hence, if Mexico’s legislation does not provide for life imprisonment, it must also be precluded from being imposed on fugitives extradited from Mexico. Justices Luna Ramos, recently appointed, and Gudino Pelayo and Silva Meza, who were present in the 2001 session, concurred with Justices Diaz Romero and Cossio Diaz.

    Mark (411533) — 12/7/2008 @ 8:29 pm

  7. Ditto what DRJ and SteveG said above. This appears to me to be a positive sign, not hypocrisy. I doubt that the people calling for Mexico to resume the death penalty are the same ones who want the U.S. to end ours. Anybody who wants to try to bring law and order to Mexico (I don’t say “back” to Mexico, because it’s never had a terribly well-developed criminal justice system) should be considered an ally of ours and supported.

    PatHMV (653160) — 12/8/2008 @ 8:30 am


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