California v. Superior Court of California case brief

California v. Superior Court of California case brief summary
482 U.S. 400 (1987)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Petitioner appealed a judgment of the Supreme Court of California, which blocked a Louisiana extradition warrant charging respondent with kidnapping his minor children after finding that the warrant did not substantially charge respondent with a crime.

CASE FACTS
Respondent argued that because a California custody decree had awarded him lawful custody of his minor children, he could not be charged with the crime of abducting his children away from their mother's custody in Louisiana and returning them to California. Consequently, respondent asserted that the kidnapping warrant issued by Louisiana was properly blocked as a lawful custodian could not be guilty of kidnapping.

DISCUSSION

• The court disagreed, explaining that extradition provisions of U.S. Constitutional Article IV, § 2, cl. 2, and the Extradition Act of 1793, 18 U.S.C.S. § 3182, allowed only four issues to be considered before respondent was served up, namely, whether the extradition documents were in order, whether respondent had been charged with a crime in Louisiana, whether respondent was the person named in the extradition request, and whether respondent was a fugitive. 
• These conditions having been met, it was improper for the California high court to block the warrant by weighing the sufficiency of the indictment under the custody decree awarded respondent and the full faith and credit provisions of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, 28 U.S.C.S. § 1738A, the court concluded.

CONCLUSION
The judgment blocking a Louisiana extradition warrant charging respondent with kidnapping his minor children was reversed because extradition requirements supporting the Louisiana warrant were met and the California court was precluded from weighing the sufficiency of the indictment, notwithstanding the custody decree awarded to respondent.

Recommended Supplements for Criminal Law