WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dealt a defeat to President Bush on Tuesday, ruling he does not have the “unilateral authority” to force state officials to comply with global treaties.
Chief Justice John Roberts said the Constitution gives the president the power “to execute the laws, not make them.” Unless Congress passes a law to enforce a treaty, the president usually cannot do it on his own, Roberts said.
The case arose from an unusual dispute and an unexpected intervention by Bush. But the justices used it to make a strong statement about the limits of presidential power.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, acting on a lawsuit by Mexico, ruled the United States had failed to carry out its treaty duty to inform a native country when one of its citizens was arrested and charged with a serious crime. The decision pointed to 51 Mexican nationals who were under death sentences in Texas, California and several other states.
It was unclear how this ruling could be enforced. But in a surprise move, President Bush in 2005 told Texas officials they must reopen and reconsider the cases of the Mexican-born murderers on death row. Bush, a former Texas governor, said he was acting “pursuant to the authority vested in me as president by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Texas officials fought him in court.
In Tuesday’s 6-3 decision, Roberts said the treaty known as the Vienna Convention was not “binding federal law” because Congress had not passed a law to enforce it and the president cannot do this on his own.
The dissenters, led by Justice Stephen Breyer, took the view that treaties become part of U.S. law and, therefore, must be followed by state and federal officials.
