NCJ Number
75915
Date Published
1977
Length
282 pages
Annotation
Testimony presented is before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee dealing with the proposed treaties between the United States and Mexico and Canada on the execution of penal sentences.
Abstract
The proposed treaties would permit American citizens convicted of offenses in Mexico and Canada to be transferred to United States corrections systems to serve their sentences. The treaty with Mexico is indicated to stem largely from the relatively large numbers of Americans being held in Mexican jails because of drug-related convictions, due largely to the United States-Mexico cooperative crackdown on persons transporting illegal drugs across the border. Much of the testimony documents the injustices and abuses that have occurred to Americans in the Mexican criminal justice system, and the treaty is viewed as one measure to help deliver Americans from such abuse and provide more humane environments for Americans to serve their sentences. It is acknowledged that the treaty will not help those Americans being held in Mexican jails for extended periods of time prior to trial. Constitutional issues raised by the treaties are considered in the testimony, notably the treaties' provisions that prohibit any American court from entertaining challenges by transferred Americans to the sentences dispensed in Mexico or Canada. It is advised that such a provision violates an American's constitutional right to judicial review under a claim of wrongful imprisonment. Testimony indicates that the prisoner's waiver of the right to judicial review of sentence as a condition of transfer is constitutionally permissible if certain conceptual and procedural requirements are met; namely, that such waiver is in the public interest and is voluntarily entered into by the one waiving such rights. Written statements are appended. For specific statements, see NCJ 75916-17.