Cubadebate (English)

This is the eleventh part in Ricardo Alarcón’s series on the Cuban Five: When the Supreme Court decided not to hear the Cuban Five petition, the Justices acted exactly as requested by President Obama’s Solicitor General, showing that on this issue, there has been no change, certainly not a change we can believe in. The Supreme Court last June 14 simply joined the other two branches of Government in demonstrating their hostility towards the Cuban people.

This is the tenth part in Ricardo Alarcón’s series on the Cuban Five: On March 6, 2009 twelve separate amicus briefs were presented in support of the Cuban Five’s petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court, the largest number of amicus filings ever to have urged Supreme Court to review a criminal conviction. Eight briefs were submitted by institutions or persons based on the United States.

This is the eighth part in Ricardo Alarcón’s series on the Cuban Five: When the historic unanimous decision was reversed at the urging of George W. Bush’s Attorney General (Remember Elian? CounterPunch, August 11, 2009), the same 3-judge panel was to hear the remaining issues other than venue, which had been the one upon which they had expressed their landmark opinion. However, in the meantime, one jurist, the oldest and most liberal, had retired and somebody else was designated to substitute for him.

This is the seventh part in Ricardo Alarcón’s series on the Cuban Five: The Court of the Southern District of Florida is not an international tribunal, neither is it a UN body having jurisdiction on matters affecting relations between countries. It has a very specific duty, which is to determine if a particular defendant is guilty or not of a concrete charge. In instructing the jury in the case of Gerardo Hernandez, the Court recalled the language of the Government’s indictment.