No Sympathy for the "Dog"

Duane Lee "Dog" Chapman is a bounty hunter and bail bondsman whose lifestyle is glamorized in a reality show that airs on the A&E cable network. He first gained notoriety in 2003 when he entered Mexico and captured Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster and brought him back to the U.S., where he has been imprisoned ever since. Luster, a fugitive from the law at the time, had fled the U.S. during his trial for poisoning and rape and was ultimately convicted in absentia. Chapman was viewed as a hero by many for making this capture.

However, the very thing that brought him fame now has Chapman fleeing from the law himself. When he captured Luster, Mexican police demanded that he immediately turn him over to them. When he refused, Mexican authorities arrested him and charged him with kidnapping and unlawful detainment, felonies in that country, punishable by up to four years in prison. He was released at that time, but was ordered to show up in a Mexican court to face those charges at a later date. After failing to do so, he was declared a fugitive by the Mexican government.

About a month ago, shortly before the statute of limitations would have gotten him off the hook, he was arrested by U.S. marshals near his home in Honolulu and jailed on behalf of the Mexican government. When he appeared in court a day later, Chapman was released on $300,000 bail and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, pending his extradition hearing scheduled for November 16.  He is currently fighting extradition.

Media sources have reported that 29 Republican Congressmen recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Chapman's behalf, requesting that she deny his extradition to Mexico. For the life of me, I can't understand why these lawmakers would take up for a shady character like "Dog" Chapman. He is not a sympathetic character by any stretch of the imagination. He's even ostracized by many of his fellow bounty hunters and bail bondsmen because of his strong-arm tactics that often push the limits of what is legal and ethical.

In fact, the man is a convicted murderer who was sentenced to hard labor in prison before being paroled two years into his sentence. Before his murder conviction, he had been arrested multiple times for armed robbery. Why do officials in the U.S. even recognize his status as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman? We wouldn't have convicted child molesters monitoring sex offenders, would we? 

Chapman should be returned to Mexico to face the music for his offenses. Some would argue that he shouldn't be extradited because the corresponding offenses in the U.S. would only be considered misdemeanors, for which we do not generally extradite people. However, since when did kidnapping and unlawful detainment become misdemeanors? Did Chapman's capture of Andrew Luster make him such a hero in the eyes of some that they are willing to ignore the fact that he broke the laws of another country in the process? If the rule of law is to be upheld, even a duly authorized law enforcement agent - which Chapman is not - cannot be allowed to break the law in order to enforce it. As far as his getting into trouble with the law is concerned, I don't think it could have happened to a better guy.

Comments

[stillatlarge]

I believe Andrew Luster was innocent all along.

[stillatlarge]

http://www.angelfire.com/blog/luster/Mythv.Reality.html

[Heather]

You couldn't be more wrong about the Chapman family. You do not know the whole situation at hand. No one knows but the family themselves and those involved. It's ridiculous to write such nonsense when all we know is what the media is saying and half the time they over dramatize everything anyways.