We can all cheer the return of Ricardo
Rodriguez to Los Angeles. The Mexican national, who fled to
his homeland after allegedly trying to kill two sheriff's
deputies in Inglewood last year, will at last face American
justice.
But there's an unseemly irony to this case.
Had Rodriguez actually achieved what authorities say he
had set out to do -- that is, had the bullets from his
assault rifle actually struck and killed either of the
deputies -- he would not be back in L.A. today. Instead, he
would still be in Mexico, facing trial and a more lenient
sentence in a Mexican court.
That's because Mexico refuses to extradite criminals who
stand to get the death penalty or a life sentence without
parole. Rodriguez, who, if convicted on attempted
murder charges, will be eligible for parole in 68 years --
at the age of 94 -- doesn't qualify for the ban. Were he up
for murder itself, he would.
Like Armando Garcia, the Mexican national believed to
have killed L.A. County sheriff's Deputy David March back in
2002. Mexican authorities refuse to extradite Garcia, much
to the anguish and frustration of March's family.
Last week in Denver, a district attorney consented to
waive the possibility of the death penalty or giving life
imprisonment to another suspected Mexican cop-killer in
order to get him extradited.
It's an understandable deal: Better, the D.A. thought, to
put a killer behind bars for the prime of his life than his
going free. But it comes at a steep price: creating a
two-tiered system of justice in America, where our own
citizens are held to a higher standard than those of other
nations, even those who have entered the country illegally.
Besides, shouldn't American law dictate the penalty for a
crime committed on American soil?
The solution to this dilemma lies in the two countries'
revising their extradition treaty, and with American
officials using whatever leverage is at their disposal --
political, diplomatic or economic -- to extract concessions
from their Mexican counterparts.
We shouldn't feel the need to cheer every time a fugitive
is returned to face American justice. That should be a
matter of course.
