12-28-2006, 11:01 PM
I have posted about this several times here in the past. Was happy to see this guy get his justice. it will also clear the way for others that were areested as his "helpers" including a few locals.
U.S. arrest of brutal island employer legal: court
Wed Dec 27, 6:53 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. officials acted correctly in arresting a brutal garment factory owner in the remote South Pacific island of American Samoa and sending him 2,300 miles to Hawaii to face trial, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Factory owner Kil Soo Lee was accused of mistreating his workers from Vietnam, China and American Samoa, barring them from leaving for days at a time, under-feeding them and ordering beatings of disobedient workers.
After local authorities failed to investigate complaints against him, federal authorities arrested Lee in 2001 and flew him to Hawaii. He was ultimately sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for holding his workers in involuntary servitude and other crimes.
Lee appealed the judgment, arguing the District of Hawaii did not have jurisdiction over his case. But the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against him.
Located halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, American Samoa (pop. 58,000) is an unincorporated U.S. territory overseen by the U.S. Interior Department. Its citizens are not entitled to vote in national U.S. elections but are subject to U.S. federal law.
SIDENOTE: What the article doesn't include in that last paragraph is that federal jurisdiction doesn't cover American Samoa and thus, folks are charged when they enter the US - usually in Hawaii. And while they don't get to vote, they are US nationals and are entitled to all other rights of US citizens.
U.S. arrest of brutal island employer legal: court
Wed Dec 27, 6:53 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. officials acted correctly in arresting a brutal garment factory owner in the remote South Pacific island of American Samoa and sending him 2,300 miles to Hawaii to face trial, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Factory owner Kil Soo Lee was accused of mistreating his workers from Vietnam, China and American Samoa, barring them from leaving for days at a time, under-feeding them and ordering beatings of disobedient workers.
After local authorities failed to investigate complaints against him, federal authorities arrested Lee in 2001 and flew him to Hawaii. He was ultimately sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for holding his workers in involuntary servitude and other crimes.
Lee appealed the judgment, arguing the District of Hawaii did not have jurisdiction over his case. But the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against him.
Located halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, American Samoa (pop. 58,000) is an unincorporated U.S. territory overseen by the U.S. Interior Department. Its citizens are not entitled to vote in national U.S. elections but are subject to U.S. federal law.
SIDENOTE: What the article doesn't include in that last paragraph is that federal jurisdiction doesn't cover American Samoa and thus, folks are charged when they enter the US - usually in Hawaii. And while they don't get to vote, they are US nationals and are entitled to all other rights of US citizens.