Torres v. Mullin

Summary

Justice Breyer, dissenting, would defer consideration of the petition because the relationship between the Vienna Convention, domestic procedural-default rules, and International Court of Justice interpretations had not received sufficient briefing or analysis. He viewed the petitioner's arguments that the Convention creates enforceable individual rights and that the ICJ's interpretation may bind the United States as substantial, particularly in light of the pending international proceedings and the risk of execution. Justice Stevens, respecting denial of certiorari, separately argued that applying procedural default to an unnotified foreign national's treaty claim conflicts with the Convention and the Constitution's Supremacy Clause.