U. S. Supreme Court hands down two major rulings today.

The U. S. Supreme Court has handed down two major decisions today.

The BIG MAJOR decision came in the case of MEDELLIN v. TEXAS, 06-984, a Mexican resident, who (along with 51 other Mexican citizens) incarcerated fr various crimes), wanted the court to reverse death sentence because Texas state courts violated his rights under the provisions of a treaty concerning the International Court of Justice (ICJ), by not informing him of his rights to consult the Mexican Consulate regarding his arrest.

The court held that President Bush does not have the authority to direct a state court to comply with a ruling from the International Court, because the President's order is not an enforceable federal law unless "statutes implementing it or the treaty itself conveys an intention that it be 'self-executing' and is ratified on that basis."

In the second case, which may be purely of interest to legal practitioners, the Court held in HALL STREET ASSOCIATES, L. L. C. v. MATTEL, INC., 06-989, that the Federal Arbitration Act prevents parties from contractually agreeing to supplement terms defining when a court can modify or vacate an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act.

According to the Court, the terms under which an arbitration award can be modified or vacated are exclusive. As such, "Under §9 [of the Act], a court “must” confirm an award “unless” it is vacated, modified, or corrected “as prescribed” in §§10 and 11. Section 10 lists grounds for vacating an award, including where the award was pro-cured by “corruption,” “fraud,” or “undue means,” and where the arbitrators were “guilty of misconduct,” or “exceeded their powers.” Under §11, the grounds for modifying or correcting an award include “evident material miscalculation,” “evident material mistake,” and “imperfect[ions] in [a] matter of form not affecting the merits.”