Vile Atheist
Loud and Obnoxious
I just found something neat out about the US-Canadian Extradition Treaty after glancing at it. I wondered about a possible loophole that would allow American criminals to at the very minimum escape death row in the States, if not go to another country.
American nationals guilty of a crime that carries a sentence of at least a year who flee to Canada can be tracked and apprehended by Canadian authorities at the request of American law enforcement.
BUT!
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on this treaty that it will extradite US nationals only on the condition they do not face the death penalty in the US. Otherwise, no extradition.
So say if you live in a state which still has the death penalty on the books - say, Texas - and you murder, say, 5 people and flee to Canada. That would be grounds for the death penalty in Texas.
So if Canadian authorities track you down and extradite you back to the US, you are pretty much guaranteed safe haven from death row. If Texas persists in wanting to execute you, you can be set free in Canada. You won't go back to the States, at least, the Canadians will not extradite you.
The hinderance to all this is your stay in Canada will only be temporary. You sure as hell won't be able to get legal status or refugee status if the Canadian authorities are aware of what you did. So eventually, you will have to either hide in Canada or flee to another country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Obviously I'm not advocating murder here or recommending this as a course of action. But could this not be a possible loophole to avoid death row in the United States?
American nationals guilty of a crime that carries a sentence of at least a year who flee to Canada can be tracked and apprehended by Canadian authorities at the request of American law enforcement.
BUT!
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on this treaty that it will extradite US nationals only on the condition they do not face the death penalty in the US. Otherwise, no extradition.
So say if you live in a state which still has the death penalty on the books - say, Texas - and you murder, say, 5 people and flee to Canada. That would be grounds for the death penalty in Texas.
So if Canadian authorities track you down and extradite you back to the US, you are pretty much guaranteed safe haven from death row. If Texas persists in wanting to execute you, you can be set free in Canada. You won't go back to the States, at least, the Canadians will not extradite you.
The hinderance to all this is your stay in Canada will only be temporary. You sure as hell won't be able to get legal status or refugee status if the Canadian authorities are aware of what you did. So eventually, you will have to either hide in Canada or flee to another country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Obviously I'm not advocating murder here or recommending this as a course of action. But could this not be a possible loophole to avoid death row in the United States?
