Supreme Court’s Kidnap Decision

Let me see if I got it right. According to the Supreme Court, the loopholes in the extradition treaty with Mexico are big enough for paid agents of the United States government to slip through, kidnap a Mexican national, and spirit him to the U.S. to stand trial for crimes committed against an American on Mexican soil.

The kidnaped individual deserves to rot in prison for what he did. Basically, he kept drug agent Enrique Camarena alive so that he could be tortured some more. That is not the point. The crux of the matter is that extradition treaties are often symmetrical; that is, what stands for one of the parties stands for the other one as well. The mere thought that foreign agents should legally be allowed to operate within the U.S. is repugnant; however, under the new Supreme Court ruling, we should allow, say, Mexican federal agents to come in and kidnap any of the many officers or one of the few private citizens that have shot illegal aliens to death on U.S. soil. Then he would be taken to Mexico to stand trial for wrongful death and maybe for assault under color of authority. Somehow, I cannot see George Bush standing quietly to the side while this happens.

Might is not right. There is very little that Mexico can do. We committed a crime, compounded the thing by shrouding ourselves in contrived “legality,” and we can get away with it simply because no one can enforce the real law upon us.

BENNY LEVY

San Diego