Mexican Court Takes a Stand for Justice
A new development in the Mexican Supreme Court could translate into a change in policy here in Los Angeles County to extradite more suspected murderers to the United States.
At least that's the way Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, sees it.
While not retreating on their "life imprisonment' extradition stipulation, a recent ruling by the Mexican justices recognized that long-term sentences do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment and, more important, are appropriate for heinous crimes.
The seeming turnabout came with the court's decision to uphold the state of Chihuahua's right to impose consecutive prison terms for murders involving children, women or kidnap victims. This, despite that back-to-back terms could add up to more than 100 years clearly a lifetime.
Dreier presented a similar sentencing argument to the Mexican Supreme Court over a year ago and believes the decision could prove a critical turning point in negotiations to bring those who have fled American justice back to face trial.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley should consider using this opening to negotiate for the return of Armando Garcia, suspected of the 2002 execution-style murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David March, who worked out of the sheriff's Temple Station.
On April 29 of that year, March pulled Garcia over in what has been determined to be a routine traffic stop. Investigators believe the Mexican national, who was also implicated in a string of other violent crimes, shot and killed March on a dusty stretch of Live Oak Avenue just west of the San Gabriel River [605] Freeway.
Dreier has had an ongoing dialogue with Mexican officials, including President Vicente Fox. He, Cooley and Sheriff Lee Baca should keep up the pressure to have Garcia returned. But this most-wanted criminal by local authorities is but one of some 400 fugitive suspects in the county who have fled to Mexico, according to Cooley. Returning them would be a plus and far more likely at this juncture.
That the court has upheld long-term sentencing in its own country is a sure sign that the justices have turned a corner in their view of crime and punishment. While rehabilitation is to be applauded and applied whenever possible, the decision indicates that some crimes deserve punishment commensurate with their severity.
Fox's administration ought to push for applying such sentencing to those who murder Mexican law-enforcement officers as well. Doing so would more closely mirror attempts by Dreier and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, to make killing a law-enforcement officer and fleeing the country a federal crime in the United States.
Certainly Mexican citizens are as at risk from these criminals as are Americans. It behooves both nations to work together to see that these robbers, rapists and killers are imprisoned for their crimes.
