HOUSTON - Seven Mexican-born inmates on Texas' death row lost their bids for appeal Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court, following the court's ruling last week that another Mexican-born inmate's case couldn't be reopened despite an order from President Bush.

Justices last week voted 6-3 against hearing the case of Jose Medellin, convicted of the rape-slayings of two Houston teenagers 15 years ago, saying Bush overstepped his authority by trying to order Texas to reopen Medellin's case. That decision removed a legal hurdle blocking Medellin's execution.

An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country's consular officials.

The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.

But the Supreme Court said Texas could ignore the international court's ruling in favor of granting new hearings.

The seven inmates whose cases were denied review Monday are among 14 native Mexicans on death row in Texas. Inmates whose cases were rejected include Cesar Fierro, one of the longest-serving condemned prisoners in the state. Fierro, 51, was convicted of the 1979 robbery-slaying of an El Paso taxi driver. He's been on death row more than 28 years.

Other condemned prisoners to lose Monday:

--Ruben Cardenas, 37, convicted of the rape-slaying of a 16-year-old girl abducted from Edinburg in 1997.

--Felix Rocha, 31, convicted of the slaying and robbery of a security guard outside a Houston club in 1994.

--Virgilio Maldonado, 42, condemned for a 1995 robbery and slaying at a Houston apartment complex.

--Robert Ramos, 53, convicted of the 1992 slayings of his wife and two children at their home in Progreso in Hidalgo County.

--Humberto Leal Garcia, 35, condemned for the abduction, rape and fatal bludgeoning of a 16-year-old San Antonio girl in 1994.

--Ignacio Gomez, 38, convicted of the fatal shooting of three people in El Paso in 1996.

Mexico, which has no death penalty, sued the United States in the world court in 2003. Mexico and other opponents of capital punishment have sought to use the world court to fight for foreigners facing execution in the U.S.

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