Texas is preparing to execute a Mexican national tonight, despite a recent order by the World Court to halt the execution. On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted against a reprieve for José Medellín, who was convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl. Last month, the International Court of Justice said Medellin and some fifty other Mexicans on death row should have new hearings in US courts to determine whether a 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests. Medellin’s attorneys contend he was denied the protections of the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested to have access to their home country’s consular officials.