Wacker V. Bisson. 348 P. 2d 602.
U.S. Ct. App., 5th Cir., June 23,1965.
The appellant, J. Samuel Wacker, awaiting extradition to Canada, brings
this off-beat declaratory judgment action attacking the validity of an
unappealable extradition order. Since Wacker is in custody, he might just as
well have cast the action in the form of an application for habeas corpus.
Wacker, however, has twice tried that approach without success. In the
complaint and on appeal, the plaintiff advances on all fronts, attacking the
constitutionality of numerous international treaties anil conventions,
challenging the extradition statute (as written and as applied), and making
other contentions based on all possible, and some impossible, reasons for
the invalidity of the extradition. Wacker names as defendant the Consul
General of Canada, the demanding state. The District Court dismissed the
complaint for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter and over the
person of the defendant. We reverse and remand, taking the view that the
District Court has jurisdiction under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28
U.S.C. §2201 ff., to review collaterally the validity of the extradition
proceeding.