End date 1886 | ||
Full case name Frederick Ker v. People of the State of Illinois Citations 119 U.S. 436 (more)
7 S.Ct. 225; 30 L.Ed. 421 Prior history Writ of Error to the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois Majority Miller, joined by unanimous Similar United States v Alvarez‑Machain, United States v Alvarez, Rochin v California | ||
Ker v. Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 (1886), is a U.S. Supreme Court case. It held that a fugitive kidnapped from abroad could not claim any violation of the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States.
The incident that led to this decision involved with a Pinkerton Detective Agency agent, Henry Julian, was hired by the federal government to collect a larcenist, Frederick Ker, who had fled to Peru. Although Julian had the necessary extradition papers—the two governments had negotiated an extradition treaty a decade earlier—he found that there was no official to meet his request due to the recent Chilean military occupation of Lima. Rather than return home empty-handed, Julian kidnapped the fugitive, with assistance from Chilean forces, and placed him on a U.S. vessel heading back to the United States.