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It might be relevant because good government agencies rely on formal processes and are suspicious of simple arguments like "well, there are signs that the citiz
by hollerith 8y ago
It might be relevant because good government agencies rely on formal processes and are suspicious of simple arguments like "well, there are signs that the citizen in trouble is skeptical of the very idea of national sovereignty, so why should the US, a sovereign nation, lift a finger to help him?" This goes under the general heading of "rule of law", as opposed to rule of the whims of individual officials.
In other words, US citizens travelling the world would prefer to know before they get into trouble overseas which behaviors their State Department considers so egregious as to disqualify them for the help that citizens can usually expect. Ergo, the State Department probably publishes a list of such behaviors or situations. I am asking you whether if it were your job to specify such a list, would having felony charges pending in a "US-based" (i.e., state or federal) court be on the list?
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoAre either of these people in trouble with the US? I didn't see that in the article. That's why I don't see the relevance of what you're asking. But let's suppose I want no government to have jurisdiction over me. I'm not quite renouncing my US citizenship, but I am explicitly trying to remove myself from all government control. If while doing this I run afoul of a foreign government, should I expect the US to protect me? (They may still do so, for their own sake rather than for mine, but it seems to me that I have no right to expect them to do so.) Here's a slightly stronger version of the same issue. Ronnie Biggs was an Englishman, wanted in England and living openly in Brazil because it had no extradition treaty with England. If, while doing so, he got in trouble with Brazil, would anyone expect England to try to protect him as an English citizen? He still was one, but...
- hollerith 8y agoI thought it relevant because you don't want the US to help him even though he's not in trouble with the US, which makes me curious whether you want the US to help those that are in trouble with the US.