Ronald Calder was a native of Iowa working in Puerto Rico, He was charged with first degree murder and attempted murder. After posting bail, he fled to his home state. Puerto Rico submitted a petition to Branstad, Iowa's governor at the time, to extradite Calder for court proceedings. Branstad refused.
Do federal courts have the power to order governors to fulfill obligations under the Constitution's Extradition Clause in Article IV, Section 2?
Yes. The Court overturned its decision in Kentucky v. Dennison (1861) which had rendered federal courts powerless to enforce the Extradition Clause. The unanimous Court concluded that the precedent in Kentucky was "the product of another age" and "fundamentally incompatible with more than a century of constitutional development."
Decisions
Decision: 9 votes for Puerto Rico, 0 vote(s) against Legal provision: Article 4, Section 2, Paragraph 2: Extradition Clause
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Full Opinion by Justice Thurgood Marshall
