Federal Republic of Germany v. United States

Background

The Federal Republic of Germany and others asked the Court for permission to file a lawsuit and for an emergency order to stop Arizona from executing Walter LaGrand, whom they say is a German citizen. Germany asked the Court to enforce a same-day order from the International Court of Justice that told the United States to prevent the execution. The filings came at the eleventh hour, within two hours of a scheduled execution that followed a 1984 sentence Germany learned about in 1992.

Reasoning

The Court declined to take the case and denied the emergency injunction request. It cited multiple threshold problems found in the opinion: the United States appears not to have waived sovereign immunity, it is doubtful that the Constitution’s Article III court-powers clause provides a clear basis for this suit, and suing the State of Arizona raised likely conflicts with the Eleventh Amendment (which limits certain lawsuits against states). The Court emphasized the lateness of Germany’s pleas alongside these jurisdictional barriers in refusing to exercise original jurisdiction.

Real world impact

Because the Court refused the emergency relief, Germany’s request did not stop the immediate execution proceedings, and no Supreme Court stay was issued. The decision highlights legal and procedural hurdles for foreign governments seeking U.S. court intervention to enforce international court measures. This ruling is based on jurisdictional grounds and the timing of the filings, not a final judgment on the underlying Vienna Convention issues.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Souter (joined by Justice Ginsburg) concurred in the order but did not rest the decision on Eleventh Amendment grounds and noted the Solicitor General’s position. Justice Breyer (joined by Justice Stevens) dissented and would have granted a short preliminary stay to allow full briefing and consideration of the international and jurisdictional issues.