National Lawyers Guild President and Past Presidents Urge Texas Governor Rick Perry to Stay Execution of Jose Medellin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 4, 2008

Contact: President Marjorie Cohn, NLG president, marjorie@tjsl.edu,
619-374-6923

Jeanne Mirer, NLG International Committee, mirerfam@earthlink.net,
313-515-2046

National Lawyers Guild President and Past Presidents Urge Texas
Governor Rick Perry to Stay Execution of Jose Medellin

Urges Congress to Act on Avena Case Implementation Act, Which Impacts
Medellin

New York. The National Lawyers Guild’s president and past presidents
have written to Governor Rick Perry of Texas asking him to stay the
execution of Jose Medellin, scheduled for tomorrow, until Congress
acts on the Avena Case Implementation Act. This legislation has been
introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 6481 with similar
legislation to be introduced in the Senate. The Guild has also called
on each individual Senator and Representative to ask that they request
immediate action the Avena Act.

If passed, the Act will address the concerns raised in the Supreme
Court ruling in Medellin v. Texas and will require the State of Texas
to comply with federal legislation directly on point to Mr. Medellin’s
situation. The Avena case was filed by Mexico against the United
States on behalf of various Mexican nationals (including Mr. Medellin)
alleging that the United States had violated its obligation under the
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to notify foreign nationals
arrested in the United States of their right to consult with people at
their country’s consulate before talking to the authorities. The ICJ
ruled that the Convention had been violated and called for review of
the convictions of individuals obtained in the absence of this notice.

The importance of this legislation is enormous, as failure to
implement the Avena decision in the Medellin case has serious
implications for Americans traveling, working, and volunteering
abroad. The security of Americans volunteering abroadâ€"as missionaries,
aid volunteers, and private citizen ambassadorsâ€"has been placed at
risk by U.S. noncompliance with Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations obligations. American citizens working abroad are at times
detained by oppressive or undemocratic regimes, and access to the
American consulate is critical to their safety, and to the United
States’ ability to support them and provide for their needs.

Founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association,
which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the
oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in
the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has
chapters in every state.

To read the letter to Governor Perry, please visit:
http://nlg.org/news/statements/LetterRickPerry.doc

To read the letter to members of Congress, please visit:
http://nlg.org/news/statements/SenatorLtr.pdf

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