The Shadows of Sovereignty: Extradition and Extralegal Kidnappings across the Canada-US border

Dr. Benjamin Hoy and Sarah Rutley

The Shadows of Sovereignty project maps and quantifies the growth of formal (extradition) and informal (state sponsored kidnapping) approaches to transnational justice from the 1840s until the 1930s. Set between the first effective extradition agreement between Britain and the United States (1842) and the moment the Canada-US border became a fully functioning institution (the 1930s), this project studies the growth of transnational justice during its formative years. In doing so, this project sheds light on how nations punished crime in lands they claimed no official jurisdiction over (e.g. US punishing crime on Canadian soil). It also illuminates how federal desires for practical solutions in both countries increased local power in transnational affairs.