Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the court.
The .prisoner, "William Kauscher, was indicted by á grand, jury, for that, on the 9th day of October, 1884, on the high seas, -out of the jurisdiction of any particular state of the United States, and within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction thereof, he, the said William Kauscher, being then and there second mate of the-ship J. F. Chapman, unlawfully made , an assault upon Janssen, one of the crew of the vessel of which he was an ofiicer, and unlawfully inflicted upon said Janssen ■ bruel and uñusual punishment. This indictment was found undér § 5347 of the Kevised Statutes of the United States.'
, The statement of the division of opinion between the judges is in the following language:
“This cause coming on to be heard at this term, before', judgment upon the verdict, on a motion in arrest'of judgment, and also on a motion for a new trial before the two judges ab.ove. mentioned, at such hearing the following questions-occurred: .
“ First. The prisoner, having been extradited upon a' charge of murder on the high seas of one Janssen, under' § 5339 Rev. Stat., had the Circuit Court of the Southern District of New York jurisdiction to put him to trial upon an indictment under ■ § 5347 Kev. Stat., charging him with cruel and unusual punishment of the, same man, he being one of the crew of an American vessel of which the defendant was an officer, and such punishment consisting of the identical acts proved in the .extradition proceedings?
“Second. Did or not the prisoner, under the extradition treaty with Great Britain, having been surrendered upon a charge of murder, acquire a right to be exempt from prosecution upon the charge set forth in the indictment, without being first afforded an opportunity to return to Great Britain ?
“ Third. "Was it error on the part of the trial judge to overrule a plea to the jurisdiction of the court to try the indictment*410 under § 534V of the .United States Bevised Statutes, charging the accused with cruel and unusual punishment of one Janssen, one of the crew of a vessel of which accused was afi. officer, it having been established upon said plea that the accused' Was extradited under the extradition treaty with Great Britain, upon the charge of murder of, the same Janssen, under § 5339 of the United States Bevised Statutes ? .
'• “Fourth. .Was it error on the part of the trial judge to refuse, to direct a verdict of acquittal, after it had been proven that the accused was extradited under the extradition treaty with Great Britain, upon the charge of murder, it also appearing that in. the proceedings preliminary to the warrant of extradition the' same act was investigated, and the same witnesses examined, as at the trial ?
“ In respect to each of which questions the judges aforesaid were divided.in opinion., -
• “ Wherefore, at the same term, at the request of the United States attorney, they have caused the points above stated to be certified under the seal of this court, together with a copy the indictment and an abstract of the record, to the Supreme Court of the United States for final decision according to law.
“WM. J. Wallace.
“ Chas. . L. Benedict.”
■ The treaty with Great Britain, under which the defendant was surrendered by that government to ours upon a charge' of murder, is that of August 9, 1842, styled “ A treaty to settle and define the boundaries between the territories of the United States and the possessions of Her Britannic Majesty in North America; for the final suppression of the1 African • slave trade; and for the-giving up of criminals, fugitive from justice, in certain cases.” 8 Stat. 576.
With the exception of this caption, the tenth article of the treaty contains all that relates to the subject of extradition of criminals. That article is here copied, as follows :
“ It is agreed that the United States and Her Britannic Majesty shall, upor. mutual requisitions by them, or their ministers, officers, or authorities, respectively made, deliver up*411 to- justice all persons who, being charged with the crime murder, or assault with intent to- commit murder, or piracy, or arson, or robbery, or forgery, or the utterance of forged paper, committed within the jurisdiction of either, shall seek’ an asylum, or shall be found, within the territories of the other: provided; that tins shall only bo done, upon such evi-' dence of criminality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, would' ■justify-his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the crime or offence had there been committed; and■ the ■■ respective judges and other magistrates of the two Governments shall, have power, jurisdiction, and authority, upon complaint made under oath, to issue a warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive or person so charged, that he may be brought before such judges or other magistrates, respectively, to the end that the evidence of criminality may be heard and considered; and if, on such hearing, the evidence be deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, it shall be the duty of the examining judge or magistrate to certify the same to the. proper Executive authority, that a warrant may issue, for the surrender of such fugitive.”
Not only has the general subject of the extradition of per- ■ sons charged with crime in one country, who have fled to and sought refuge in another, been .matter of much consideration of late years by the executive departments and statesmen of the governments of the civilized portion of the world, by vari-, ous publicists and writers on international law, and by specialists on that subject, as well as by the courts and judicial' tribunals of different countries, but the precise questions arising under this treaty, as presented by the certificate of the judges in this case, have recently been very much discussed in this country and in Great Britain.
It is only in modern times that the nations of the earth have imposed upon themselves the obligation of delivering up these fugitives from justice to the States where their crimes were committed, for trial and punishment. This has been done generally by treaties made by one independent government-with another. Prior to these treaties, and apart from them,'
Whether in the United States, in the absence of any treaty on the subject with a foreign nation from whose justice a fugitive may be found in one of the States, and in the absence of any act of Congress upon the subject, a State can, through its own judiciary or executive, surrender him for trial to such foreign nation,-is a question which has been under consideration by the courts of this country without any very conclusive result.
. In the case of Daniel Washburn,
In the case of Holmes v. Jennison,
“ I am authorized by my brethren,” says the Chief Justice, “ to say, that, on an examination of this casé, as decided by the Supreme Court of the the United States, they think, if the return had been as it now is, a majority of that court Avould have*414 decided that' Holmes was entitled to his discharge, and that, thn opinion of 4 majority pf the Supreme Court of the United States was also adverse to the exercise of the power in question by any of the separate States of the Union. The judg-' ..ment of the court therefore is, that Holmes be discharged from his imprisonment.” Ex parte Holmes,12 Vt. 631 .
The Court of Appeals of New York, in the case of The People, &c. v. Curtis, 50 N. Y. 321, also decided that an act of .the Legislature of that State authorizing the-rendition' to foreign States of fugitives from justice was -in ■ conflict with the Constitution of the United States. This was in 1872.
' The question has not since arisen so as to be decided by this court, but there can be little doubt of the soundness of the opinion of Chief Justice Taney, .that the power exercised by the governor of Vermont is^a"part of the foreign intercourse of this country, which has undoubtedly been conferred upon 'the Federal government; and that it is clearly included in the treaty, making power and the corresponding power of appointing and receiving ambassadors and other public ministers. There is no necessity for the states to enter upon the relations with foreign nations which are necessarily implied ' in the extradition of fugitives from justice found within the limits of the state, as there is none why they should in their own name make demand upon foreign, nations 'for the surrender of such fugitives.
At .this time of day, and-after the repeated examinations Which have been made by this court into the powers of the--Federal government to deal with all such international questions exclusively, it can hardly be admitted that, even in the absence of treaties or acts of Congress on the subject, the extradition -of a fugitive from justice can become the subject of negotiation .-between a state of this Union and a foreign government.
Fortunately, this question, with others which might arise in ' the absence of treaties or acts of Congress on the subject, is bow of very little importance, since, With nearly all the nations of the world with whom our relations are such that fugitives ' from justice may be found within their dominions or within ours, we have treaties which govern the rights and conduct of
The case we have Under consideration arises under one of' these treaties made bet#een the United States and Great ■ Britain, the country with s which, on account of our intimate - relations, the cases requiring extradition are likely to be most numerous. This treaty of 1842 is supplemented by-the-acts of Congress of August 12, 1848, 9 Stat. 302, and March 3, 1869, 15 Stat: 337, the provisions of which are embodied in §§ 5270, 5272, and 5275 of the Kevised Statutes, under Title LXVI, Extradition. '
The treaty itself, in reference to the very matter suggested.in the questions ceJ tied by the judges of the Circuit Court, has been made the subject of diplomatic negotiation between the Executive Department of this country and the government of Great Britain in the cases of "Winslow and Lawrence. Win-slow, who was charged with forgery in the United States, had taken refuge in England, and, on demand being made for his. extradition, the'Foreign Office of that country required a preliminary pledge from our government that it would not try him for any other offence than the forgery for which he was demanded. To this Mr. Eish, the Secretary of State, did not accede, .and was informed that the reason of the demand on the part of the British government was that one Lawrence, not long previously extradited under the same treaty, had been prosecuted in the courts of this country for a different offence from that for which he had been demanded from Great Britain,' and for the trial of which he was delivered up by that government. Mr. Fish defended the right of the government or state in which the offence was committed to try a person,extradited under this treaty for any other criminal offence, as well as for the one for which the extradition had been, demanded;' while Lord Derby, at the head of the Foreign Office in-England, construed the treaty as requiring the government Avhich'' had demanded the extradition of an offender against its laws for a prescribed offence, mentioned in the' treaty- and in the demand for his extradition, to try him for that offence and-for no other. The correspondence is an able one upon both sides,
The question was also discussed in th'e House of Lords, and Lord Derby stated and defended his views of the construction ' of the treaty with marked ability, while he conceded that the act of Parliament on that subject, which declared that'the •person extradited could be tried for no other offenCe than that for.which he had been demanded, had no obligatory force upon , the United States as one of the parties to the treaty. 'Foreign "Relations of the United States, 1876-7, pp. 204-307.'
'The subject was also very fully discussed by Mr. William. . Beach Lawrence, a very learned authority on matters of inter-nationál law1 living in this country, in several published arti-zóles. Albany Law Journal, vol. 14, p. 85; vol. ‘ 15, p. 2'24; vol. Í6, p. 361. In these the author, with.his usual ability, maintains the proposition, that a person delivered up under this treaty on a demand charging' him with a specific offence, mentioned ■ in it, can only be tried by'the country to which he is delivered for that specific offence, and is entitled, unless, found guilty of that, to be restored in safety to the country of his asylum at the time of his extradition.
A'very able article arising out of the same public discussion at that time, to wit, 1876, is found in the American Law Review, said to have been written by Judge Lowell, of the. United States Court at Boston, in which, after an examination of' the • authorities upon the general rule, independent of treaties, as found in the continental writers'on international law, he says, that rule is, that the person whose extradition has been granted, cannot be prosecuted and tried except for the crime for which his extradition has been obtained; and, entering upon the question of the construction of the treaty of 1842, he gives to it the same effect in regard to that matter. 10 Am. Law Review, 1875-6, p. 617.
A very learned and careful work, published in this country by'Mr. Spear, in 1879, and a second edition in 1884, after considering all the correspondence between our government and Great Britain upon the subject,. the debate in the House of 'Lords, the articles of Mr. Lawrence and Judge Lowell, as.well as the treatise of Mr. Clarke, an English writer, with a very exhaustive examination of all the decisions in this country, relating to this matter, arrives at the. same conclusion. ■ This examination, by Mr. Spear is so ’full and careful, that it leaves nothing to be desired in the way of presentation of authorities.
The only English work on the subject of extradition we have been able tó find which discusses this subject is a small manual by Edward Clarke of Lincoln’s Inn, published in 1867., He adopts the same view of the construction of this treaty and of the general principles of international law upon the subject which we have just indicated.
Turning to seek in judicial decisions for authority upon the subject, as might- be anticipated we meet with nothing in the English courts of much value, for the-reason that treaties made by the Crown of Great Britain with other nations are. hot in those courts considered as part of the law of the land, but the rights and the duties growing out of those treaties are looked upon in that country as matters confided wholly for their execution and enforcement to the. executive branch of the government. Speaking of the Ashburton treaty of 1842, which we-are now construing, Mr. Clarke says, that-, “in England the-common law being held not to permit the surrender of a criminal, this provision could not come into effect without an Act of Parliament, but in the United States a treaty is as binding; as an Act of Congress.” Clarke on Extradition, 38.
This difference between the judicial powers of the courts of .Great Britain and of this country in regard to treaties is thus
■ “ A treaty is in ’its nature a contract between two nations, not -a legislative act. It does not generally effect, of itself, the-object to be accomplished, especially so far as its operation -is infra-territórial; but is carried into execution by the sovereign power of the respective parties to the instrument. In the United States a different principle is established. Our Constitution' declares a treaty to be the law of the land. ' It is, consequently, to be regarded in courts of justice as equivalent to an act of the legislature, whenever it operates of itself without the aid of any legislative provision. But when the terms of the stipulation import a contract, when either of the parties engages to perform a particular act, the treaty addresses itself ■to the' political, not the ’judicial department; and the legislature must execute the contract before it can become a rule for ,the court.” Foster v. Neilson,
This whole, subject is fully considered in the Head Money Cases,
*418 “ A treaty is- primarily a compact between independent nations'. It depends for the enforcement of its provisions on the interest and the honor of the- governments which are parties to it. If these • fail, its infraction becomes the subject of international negotiations and reclamations, .so far as the injured party chooses to seek redress, which may .in the end. be enforced by actual war. It is obvious thart with all this the judicial courts have nothing to do ‘ and can give no redress. But a treaty may also contain provisions which confer certain rights upon the citizens or subjects of,one of the nations residing in the territorial limits of the other, which partake-of the nature of municipal law,- and which' are capable of enforcément as between private parties in the courts .of the country. An illustration of this character is found in treaties which regulate the mutual rights of citizens and subjects of the contracting nations in regard to rights of property by descent or
. It is, therefore, very clear that this treaty did not intend to depart in this respect from the recognized public .law which had prevailed in the absence of treaties, and that it was not intended that this treaty should be used for any other purpose than to secure the trial of the person extradited for one of the offences .enumerated in the treaty. This is not, only• apparent from the general principle that the specific enumeration of certain- matters and things implies the exclusion of all others, but the entire face of the treaty, including-the processes.by which it is to be carried into effect, confirms this view of the ■ subject. It is unreasonable to suppose, -that any demand for rendition framed upon a general representation to the government of the asylum, (if we may use such an exjtression,) that the party, for whom-the demand was made was guilty of some violation of the laws of the country which demanded him, without specifying any particular offence with which he was charged, and even without specifying an offence mentioned in the- treaty, would receive any serious attention; and yet such
If upon the face of this treaty it could be seen that its sole
■ The opposite view has been attempted id be inaintained in - this country upon the ground that there is no express limitation .in the treaty of the right of the country in which the-offencé was committed to try the person for the crime,-/alone for which "he was extradited, and that once being within the jurisdiction of that country, no matter by what contrivance'or fraud or by what pretence of establishing a charge provided for- by. the extradition treaty he may have been brought within the jurisdiction, he is, when here, hable to be tried for any offence against the laws as though arrested here originally. This proposition of the absence of express restriction in-the treaty of the right to try him for other offences than that for which he was extradite'd, is met by the manifest scope and object of' the treaty itself. The caption of the.treaty, already quoted, declaring that its purpose' is to settle the boundary fine between the two governments; to provide for the final suppression of the African slave trade; adds, “ and for the giving up of criminals, fugitive from justice,-m certam cases.” The treaty, then, requires, as we have already said, that there shall be given up, upon requisitions respectively made by the two governments, all persons charged with any of the seven crimes enumerated, and the provisions giving a party an examination before a proper tribuna!, in which, before he shall be delivered up -on this demand,- it must be shown that the offence for which
If there should remain any doubt upon this, construction of., the treaty itself, the language of two acts of Congress, heretofore cited, incorporated-in the Revised Statutes, must set this question at rest. It is there declared, Rev. Stat. § 5272, the. two preceding sections having, provided for a- demand upon this country and for' the inquiry into' the guilt of the-party,' that it shall be lawful for the Secretary of State, under his-hand find seal of office, to order the person so committed 'tq be delivered to such person or persons as shall be authorized, in the name and on behalf Of such foreign government, to he tried for the crime of which such person shall he, so accused, ■ and such person shall" be delivered up accordingly.”
■ For the protection of persons brought-into this country by extradition proceedings from a foreign country, § 5215 of the Revised Statutes provides:
“ Whenever any person is delivered -by any foreign govern- ■ ment to an agent of the United States, for the purpose of .being brought within the United States and tried for any, crime of which he is duly accused, the President, shall have ■ power to take all necessary measures for the transportation and safe keeping of such accused person, and for his seburity • against lawless violence, until the final conclusion of his trial for the crimes or offences specified in the warrant of extradition, and until his final discharge from custody or imprisonment for or on account ,of such crimes or offences, and for a ' reasonable time thereafter, and may employ such portion of the, land or naval forces of the-United States, or of the militia thereof, as may be necessary for the safe keeping and protection of the accused.”
The obvious meaning of these two statutes, which have reference to all treaties of extradition made by the United
That right, as we understand it, is that he shall be tried only for thé offence with which he is charged in the extradition proceedings and for which ..he was delivered up, and that if not tried'for that, or after trial and acquittal, he shah have a reasonable time to leave the country before he is arrested- upon the charge of any other crime committed previous to his extradition.
This precise question has been frequently considered by courts of the highest respectability in this country. One of the earliest cases is that of United States v. Caldwell, 8 Blatcford, 131. Caldwell was extradited from Canada, in 1810, under the treaty of 1842 with Great Britain, charged with forgery.' He was not tried for this offence, however, but was ; tried and convicted for bribing an officer of the United States —■ an offence- not designated in that treaty. In the Circuit Court 'of the United States, held by Judge Benedict, Caldwell called the attention of the-court to this fact, and claimed that under the treaty he could not be tried for any offence committed prior to his extradition other ¡than the one charged in the proceedings. To this pléa the government interposed a . demurrer, which was sustained, and the prisoner was. tried, convicted, and punished for the bribery. . Judge Benedict said, .that, “while abuse of extradition proceedings, and want of good faith in resorting to them, doubtless constitute a good cause of complaint between the two governments, such com
The next case, tried before the same court, was that of United States v. Lawrence, 13 Blatchford, 295. Lawrence was extradicted from Ireland and brought into this country under the treaty,of 1842 on a charge of a single and specific forgery.. He was indicted and put upon his trial for other forgeries, than that specified in the extradition proceedings. .To his trial for any other forgery than that he objected by propér pleadings,- on the ground that under the treaty with Great Britain he could not be so tried for other forgeries.. Judge. Benedict held that he could be So tried, and he was tried- and a verdict of guilty was rendered. It appears, however, but not very clearly from any report of the case, that, though tried and convicted, and having pleaded guilty to the other offences of forgery, he was admitted to bail and no judgment was ever pronounced. Judge Benedict, adverting to the case of United States v. Caldwell, and to a decision of the Court- of Appeals of New York in Adriance v. Lograve,
“ This ground, of defence is, therefore, dismissed, with the remark that an offender against the justice of his country can. acquire no rights by defrauding that justice. Between him and the justice he has offended, no rights accrue to the offender by flight. He remains at all times, and everywhere, liable to be called to answer to the law’ for his violations thereof, provided he comes within the reach of its arm.”
And in addition to the proposition urged in the Caldwell
“ It is true' that it [the act of Congress] assumes, as well it may, that the offender will be tried for the offence upon which his surrender is asked, but there are no words indicating that he is to be protected from trial for all other offences. The absence of any provision indicating an intention to- protect from prosecution for other offences, in a statute having no' other object than the protection of extradited offenders, is sufficient to deprive of all force the suggestion that the act of 1869, as a legislative act, gives to the treaty of 1842 the construction contended for .by the accused.” There are'perhaps two or three other cases in which the circuit or district judges of the United States have followed these decisions rendered by Judge. Benedict.
On the other hand, Judge Hoff mam, of the District Oourt of California, in the case of United States v. Watts, 8 Sawyer, 370, decided that the defendant, having been surrendered under the extradition treaty of 1842 by Great Britain, could not be tried for other offences thJn those enumerated in that treaty, and supported this view with a very learned and able opinion. Judge Deady, of the District Oourt of Oregon, in Ex parte Hills, 26 Fed. Rep. 421, 431, February 4,1886, held, in regard to the treaty of 1842, that for a government to detain a person extradited under that treaty for any other charge than the one for which he had been surrendered, “ would be not only an infraction of' the contract between the parties to the treaty, but also a violation of the supreme law of this land in a matter directly involving his' personal rights. A right of person or property, secured or recognized by treaty, may be set up as a defence to a prosecution in disregard of either, with the ■same force and effect as if such right was secured by an act of Congress.”
But perhaps the most important decisions on this question are to be found in the highest courts of the states.
The case of Adriance v. Lagrave,
While this is believed-to be the only decision in the highest' court of a state adopting that view of the law, there are three or four cases decided by appellate courts of other states, hold-. ing a directly .opposite doctrine.
The first of these is Commonwealth v. Hawes,
' ' “ I do not mean to say that he [Hawes] may not hereafter 'be'tried; but what I mean to say is, that in the face of the treaty herein referred to, he is not to be tried until there is a reasonable time given him to return to the asylum from which ■he Was taken'.”
v The case was carried to the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, fn' which the whole matter Ayas fully discussed, the opinion. of the' court, a very able one, being delivered by Chief Justice Lindsay, in 1878. The substance of the opinion is thus stated ■ in the syllabus:
“1. Extradited criminals cannot be tried for offences not named in the treaty, or for offences not named in the warrant of extradition. A prisoner extradited from the Dominion of Canada under Art. 10 of the treaty of 1842 between the United States and,Great Britain, cannot be proceeded against or tried m this State for any other offences than those mentioned in*429 hue treaty, and for which'be was extradited, without first being afforded an'opportunity to return to Canada; and,-after . . being acquitted on trials for the offence? for which hé was extradited, he cannot be lawfully held in custody to answer a charge for which he could not be put on trial.”
• “ 3. The right of one government to demand' and receive from another the custody of an offender who has sought asylum upon its soil, depends upon the existence of treaty stipulations between them, and in all cases is derived from, and is measured and restricted by, the provisions, express or implied, of the treaty.”
In-1881.a case involving the same question came before the' Texas Court of Appeals, Blandford v. State, 10 Tex. Ct. of App. 627, in which'the. same, principles were asserted as in that of Hawes: The case seems to have been very well considered, and the authorities úp to that date were fully'examined.
In 1883 the same question came before the Supreme- Court' of Ohio, in State v. Vanderpool,
Upon a review of these decisions of the- Federal and State courts, to which may be added the opinions of the distin- ■ guished writers which we have cited in the earlier, part of this
' Two other observations remain to be made. One of these is, that the operation of this principle of the recognition of the rights of prisoners under such circumstances by the- courts before whom they are brought for trial, reheves the relations between the Executive Department of the United States government and the courts of a state before whom such case may be pending, of a tension which has more than once become very delicate and very troublesome. Of course, the interfer- ■ ence of the executive branch of the Federal government, when it may have been called upon by the nation which has delivered up a person to be tried for an offence against the laws of a state, with the proceedings of a state court in such case, is likely to be resented by such court, and yet, if the only mode of enforcing the obligations of the treaty is through, the action of the respective national governments, it would seem that the government appealed to ought to have the right to see that the treaty is faithfully observed, and the rights of parties under it protected. In Great Britain the control of such matters would undoubtedly be recognized by any court to be in the CroAvn, but in this country such a proposition is, to say the least, not unaccompanied by serious embarrassments. The principle we have here laid down removes this difficulty, for. under the doctrine that the treaty is the supreme law of the land, and is to be observed by all the courts, state and national, “ anything in the laws of the states to the contrary notwithstanding,” if the state court should fail to give due effect to the rights of the party under the treaty, a remedy is found in the judicial branch of-the -Federal government, which has been
The other observation we have to make regards an argument presented in this particular, case; namely, that the prisoner was conviqted on the same testimony which was produced before the magistrate who- ordered his extradition. Although it is thus stated in the brief, the record affords no sufficient evidence of.it. WÍkat is found onfhat subject in the fourth question certified to this court is as follows:
“Was'it error on the part of the trial judge to refuse to direct a verdict of acquittal, after it had been proven that the accused was extradited under the extradition treaty' with Great Britain, upon the charge of murder, it also appearing that in the proceedings preliminary to the,warrant of 'extradition the same act. Avas investigated, and the same witnesses examined, as at the trial ? ”
It might be a sufficient answer to this argument to say that this, does not prove that the evidence was the. same -upon the two trials. Although the act charged may have been the same and the witnesses may have been the same, yet the evi-
This fourth question may also properly be treated as imma-, terial, for the question is, should the trial judge have- directed a verdict of acquittal? As all the matters set -up by the- defendant are in the nature of pleas in abatement, going rather to the question of trial on that indictment at that time, and not -denying that at some future time, when the defendant may have been properly brought within the jurisdiction of the court, or rightfully found within such jurisdiction,- ho may
The result of these considerations is, that the- first of the questions certified tó us'is answered in the negative; the second and third are answered in the affirmative; and it is ordered to be so certified to the judges of the Circuit Court.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I concur in the decision jef the court, upon the single ground, that by the act of Congress of March 3,. 1869, c. 141,,§ 1, (embodied in § 5275 of the Be vised Statutes,) providing measures by which any person, delivered up by a foreign govern-. ment for the purpose of being tried here for a crime of which he has been accused, may be secured against lawless violence “ until the final conclusion of his 'trial for the crimes or offences specified in the warrant of extradition, and until his final discharge from custody or imprisonment for or on account of such crimes, or offences, and for a reasonable time thereafter,” the political department of the government has clearly manifested its will, in the form of an express law, (of which any person prosecuted in any court within the United States has the right to claim the protection,) that the accused shall be tried only for the crime specified in the warrant of extradition, and shall be allowed a reasonable timé to depart out of the United States, before he can be arrested or detained for another offence.
Upon the broader question whether, independently of any act of Congress, and in the absence of any affirmative restriction in the treaty, a man surrendered for one crime should
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
, I am unable to concur in the decision of this case. A fugitive from justice has no absolute right of asylum in a country to which he flees, and if he can be got back within the jurisdiction i>f the country whose laws he has violated, he may be proceeded with precisely the same as if he had not fled, unless-there is something in the laws of the country where he is to be tried, or in the way in which he was got back, to prevent. I do not understand this to be denied. All, therefore, depends in this case on the treaty with Great Britain under which this extradition was effected, and§ 5275 of the Revised Statutes. I concede that the treaty is as much a part of the lav/ of th,e - United States as is a statute; and if there is anything in it which forbids a trial for any other offence than that for which the extradition was made, the accused may use it as a defence to a. prosecution on any other charge until a reasonable time has elapsed after his release ..from custody on account of the-crime for which he was sent back. 'But I have been unable to find any such provision. The treaty requires a delivery up to justice, on demand, of those accused of certain crimes, but says nothing about what shall be done with them after the delivery has been made. It might have provided that they should not be tried for any other offences than those for which they were surrendered, but it has- not. Consequently, afe it seems to me, the accused has acquired no new rights under the treaty. JEt'e fled from the justice of the country whose laws he violated, and has beer, got back. ' The treaty under which he was surrendered has granted him no immunity, and therefore it has not provided him with any new defence. This seems to have been the view taken by the English government during the time of the controversy growing out of the demand made
This is, I think, the true rule, and it is in full accord Avith the principles applied by this court in The Richmond,
As to § 5275,of the Revised Statutes I have only to say that, in my opinion, it neither' adds to the rights óf tjhe accused nor changes the effect of the treaty as a part- of the law of the United States. The accused was surrendered by Great Britain to the United States, and the United States are alone responsible to that country for whatever may be done with him in consequence of his surrender. He was delivered into the possession of the United States, and, in my opinion,, that possession may at any time be regained by the United States under this statute from the State, or its authorities, so long as the "accused remains in custody, if it should be necessary in order to enable them to keep their faith with Great Britain in respect to the" surrender.
I do not care to elaborate the argument on either of these questions. My ofily purpose is to state generally the- grounds of my dissent.