Johnson v. Browne

Citations

• 205 U.S. 309
• 27 S. Ct. 539
• 51 L. Ed. 816
• 1907 U.S. LEXIS 1399

Syllabus

<p>Although the surrender of a person demanded under an extradition treaty has been made, it is the duty of the courts here to determine the legality of. the subsequent imprisonment which depends upon the treaties in-force between this and the surrendering governments.</p> <p>While the treaty of 1842, with Great Britain, had no express limitation of the right of the demanding country to try a person only for the crime ■ for which he was extradited, such a limitation is found in the manifest scope and object of the treaty itself and it has been so construed by this court. United States v. Bauscher, 119 U. S. 407.</p> <p>A person extradited under the treaty of 1899 with Great Britain cannot be punished for an offense other than that for which his extradition has been demanded even though prior to his extradition he had been convicted and sentenced therefor.</p> <p>Sections 5272, 5275, Revised Statutes, clearly manifest the intention and the will of the political department of the Government, that a person extradited shall be tried only for the crime charged in the warrant of extradition, and shall bo allowed a reasonable time to depart out of the United States before he can be arrested and detained for any other offense. Repeals by implication are never favored, and a later treaty will not be regarded as repealing, by implication, an earlier statute unless the two are so absolutely incompatible that the statute cannot be enforced without antagonizing the treaty, and so held that the treaty with Great Britain of 1899 did not repeal §§ 5272, 5275, Rev. Stat.</p> <p>While the escape of criminals is to be deprecated, treaties of extradition should be construed in accordance with the highest -good faith, and a treaty should not be so construed as to obtain the extradition of a person for one offense and punish him for another, especially when the latter offense is one for which the surrendering government has refused to surrender him on the ground that it was not covered b