The Columbia Journal of Transnational Law is pleased to present, in conjunction with the Columbia Federalist Society, a discussion between Professors Lori Damrosch (Columbia) and Curtis Bradley (Virginia) on Medellin v. Dretke, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The debate will be moderated by Professor Martin Flaherty '88 of Fordham University Law School. A reception will follow the discussion. Professors Damrosch and Bradley will address the following two questions: 1. In a case brought by a Mexican national whose rights were adjudicatedin the [World Court's] Avena Judgment, must a court in the U.S. apply asthe rule of decision, notwithstanding any inconsistent U.S. precedent, theAvena holding that the U.S. courts must review and reconsider thenational's conviction and sentence, without resort to procedural defaultdoctrines? 2. In a case brought by a foreign national of a State party to the ViennaConvention, should a court in the U.S. give effect to the [World Court's]LaGrand and Avena Judgments as a matter of international judicial comityand in the interest of uniform treaty interpretation? From the American Society of International Law: "The United States Supreme Court has granted a writ of certiorari in the case of Medellin v. Dretke. Petitioner Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican national on death row in Texas, is one of the 49 persons covered by the International Court of Justice's Avena decision this spring. His appeal for relief to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Correctional Institutions Division directed by Doug Dretke was denied by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Arguments before the Supreme Court are expected in March 2005. A Brief of 'International Law Experts and Former Diplomats' was filed in support of Medellin. Among the eleven Amici are former ASIL presidents and current and past editors-in-chief of the AJIL. Arguments in the Brief focus on the United States’ voluntarily assumed treaty obligations, through the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the need and means to fulfill them. Professor Lori Damrosch, Columbia University School of Law, is Counsel of Record for the Amici, joined by Charles Verrill, et. al., at Wiley Rein & Fielding, LLP. This brief, along with the 5th Circuit's decision, have been added to the ASIL Web site’s Timely Topics section on Avena, www.asil.org/inthenews/avena.html." The American Society of International Law Newsletter, November/December 2004.