On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, Chris Nandor wrote:

> Focus on the law itself being bad, not the fact that someone who broke
> it wasn't in the country when he broke it

You're right, that this is what we should do. But there is still an
important legal principle.

The principle is _not_ that Sklyarov wasn't in the US when he broke US
law. That's a red herring. The real principle is that each country (or,
often, a state, province, county, or city) has to do its own laws and
prosecutions. Each jurisdiction has that responsibility, and right; no one
else can do their prosecutions for them.

If you are successfully prosecuted for marijuana possession in Ohio, you
repay your debt to society and you're done. You don't have to worry that,
upon a subsequent visit to Utah, you will be prosecuted again for your
actions in Ohio.

Now, I know, you're thinking that that would be double jeopardy, which is
unconstitutional. True. But double jeopardy is just a special case of this
general "one-jurisdiction" rule. To see that more clearly...

Suppose you use medicinal marijuana in Oregon (where it is legal), then
you walk across the border to Idaho (where it is not legal). You don't
bring any marijuana with you, and you don't use it in Idaho. Again, Idaho
can't prosecute you for a "crime" (by their standards) committed outside
their jurisdiction. Even if you keep going into Canada, the Canadians
can't prosecute you for the "crime" you committed in Oregon.

Unless, of course, they choose to disregard this principle. As we're
discussing, some jurisdictions have been known to do that, but it's dirty
pool.

--
Tom Phoenix Perl Training and Hacking Esperanto
Randal Schwartz Case: http://www.rahul.net/jeffrey/ovs/