NCJ Number
120144
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 80 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1989) Pages: 293-337
Date Published
1989
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This article examines the case of Karl Linnas, an alleged Nazi war criminal, in light of due process and eighth amendment guarantees, focusing on constitutional arguments against the denaturalization and deportation process as applied to those accused of Nazi war crimes.
Abstract
In 1987 Linnas, a naturalized American citizen, was denaturalized and deported to the Soviet Union, where he had been tried in absentia and sentenced to death for alleged Nazi crimes during World War II. Linnas died in the Soviet Union in 1987. The Linnas case illustrates that the current United States denaturalization and deportation process appears to violate the eighth amendment and the due process clause of the fifth amendment because it deprives individuals of their liberty and their lives without a fair criminal trial, often using evidence that is problematic. The article argues that current laws and procedures should be changed and those American citizens accused of Nazi war crimes should not be denaturalized and deported without a trial in the United States of the allegations against them. The American criminal justice system should be used to safeguard the accused's constitutional rights, and Congress should grant jurisdiction to United States courts to hear the cases of alleged Nazi war criminals. 377 footnotes.