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Foreigners on America's Death Rows
"Capital cases involving foreigners as defendants are a serious source of contention between the United States and foreign governments. Most countries of the world have abolished capital punishment, and foreign governments actively try to keep the United States from executing their citizens. By treaty, foreigner defendants must be informed upon arrest that they may contact a consul of their home country for advice and assistance. Police in the United States are lax in complying. When lawyers ask state or federal courts to enforce the treaty, US judges typically refuse, based on the opinion of the US Department of State that the issue is to be handled at the diplomatic level, but not by courts. Foreign governments have taken the United States into international courts, which say that the courts in the United States must enforce the treaty. The United States has not complied with these...
