Last night, a Mexican national who had committed a heinous murder in Texas was executed, which in itself is nothing unusual, and no one is mourning the individual involved.
But what is to be mourned is the fact that the Supreme Court and Texas Governor Rick Perry have just made safety for American tourists overseas, particularly in Mexico, far less certain.
One might ask: how is that so? The answer is that the International Court of Justice in the Hague had ruled in 2004 that at least 50 Mexican citizens on death row in the United States had been denied their rights under the Vienna Convention, which requires that foreign citizens be informed of their right to assistance from the consular officials of their nation in their legal defense.
Nothing had been done by Congress regarding this, and Rick Perry refused to listen to the appeal of President Obama to delay the execution, allow action by Congress, and prevent the danger that American citizens in Mexico could similarly be treated as Texas was dealing with this inmate.
It is troubling that for political reasons, the conservative majority of the Court and the Texas Governor took action that interfered with the foreign policy authority of the Presidency.
And the biggest loser could be American citizens, who now must expect retribution, and the actions of the Supreme Court and Rick Perry, for political gain, make the warning clear: You are on your own if you get into any kind of legal trouble in Mexico, and maybe, anywhere, in theory.