ryan_hunter
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX
Hi, if something is illegal where you live, but not illegal in a different country (or state), and then you go there and do it, and then return back to where you live, can you get in trouble for it? For example, Americans who buy drugs in Amsterdam, do them, and then return to America. Disregarding the "they probably won't get caught" and "the cops won't care" arguments and just assuming that there is very clear proof that they did it, and their own government does want to punish them, can they?
At first I assumed that someone could not get in trouble for this, but then I thought that if you were to travel to a hypothetical country where murder wasn't illegal, and you killed someone, and then returned to your home country, surely you could get in trouble for this, right? So without having any knowledge of this, I would probably deduce that either all instances of all crimes actually are punishable when the person returns to their home country, or there is a list of "special crimes" (like murder, terrorism, and copyright infringement) that can be punished, but others can't.
Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks.
Hi, if something is illegal where you live, but not illegal in a different country (or state), and then you go there and do it, and then return back to where you live, can you get in trouble for it? For example, Americans who buy drugs in Amsterdam, do them, and then return to America. Disregarding the "they probably won't get caught" and "the cops won't care" arguments and just assuming that there is very clear proof that they did it, and their own government does want to punish them, can they?
At first I assumed that someone could not get in trouble for this, but then I thought that if you were to travel to a hypothetical country where murder wasn't illegal, and you killed someone, and then returned to your home country, surely you could get in trouble for this, right? So without having any knowledge of this, I would probably deduce that either all instances of all crimes actually are punishable when the person returns to their home country, or there is a list of "special crimes" (like murder, terrorism, and copyright infringement) that can be punished, but others can't.
Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks.