United States v. Alvarez-Machain

Petitioner

United States

Respondent

Dr. Humberto Alvarez-Machain

Petitioner's Claim

That U.S. courts have jurisdiction over internationally abducted criminal defendants when not taken in explicit violation of an extradition treaty.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Kenneth Winston Starr, U.S. Solicitor General

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Paul L. Hoffman

Justices for the Court

Anthony M. Kennedy, William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

15 June 1992

Decision

Upheld the United States claim and overturned two lower court's decisions prohibiting the prosecution of a foreign national due to violation of the spirit of an extradition treaty.

Related Cases

• United States v. Rauscher, 119 U.S. 407 (1886).
• Ker v. Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 (1886).
• Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519 (1952).
• Medina v. California, 505 U.S. 437 (1992).
• Itel Containers International Corporation v. Huddleston, 113 S. Ct. 1095 (1993).