The Issue of International Extradition

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Introduction
In the last century international extradition has become a significant part of our criminal justice system here in the United States. With the increasing ease of transportation around the world, felons are able to flee the country and hide from the law overseas. Because of that our government has to find a way to get them back so they can be accounted for their actions. That is where extradition comes into play. Extradition treaties have been placed between countries so that if a felon flees to said country, if requested they will hand over the felon. With these treaties the U.S. government is able to retrieve these criminals much easier. While it is easier, requesting extradition is still a long and hard process, and not all countries have a treaty with the United States. Laws and methods have been made to try to help speed up this process, but then other issues come into light. The morality of international extradition is questioned when the government is able to repeatedly make requests where the felon is not able to appeal those requests. So while extradition helps out and speeds up the process of convicting fleeing felons, the methods that are used are not always seen at moral.
Every time it was mentioned to someone that this paper was going to be writing on international extradition the response was always the same; “What the heck is that?”. The general public does not know what extradition is, even though its always happening in the news. The public knows the fugitives that are being extradited, they read about what is going on in the news but they are unaware of the process.
Extraditing a Fugitive
International extradition is a vital part of the criminal justice system. As Johnston (2011) states...

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Kirk, D. (2013). Blowing the Whistle. Journal of Criminal Justice, 77 (1), 1-3. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Office of the United States Attorneys. (1997). International Extradition and Related Matters. United States Attorneys' Manual, Title 9, Chapter 9-15. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/usao/index.html.
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. (2013). United States Code, Title 18, Section II, Chapter 209. Retrieved from the U.S. Code online via GPO access.

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