The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 12 declined to block a lower court order directing that a Japanese citizen with U.S. permanent resident status be extradited to Japan to face charges of vandalizing religious buildings.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the emergency application in Kanayama v. Kowal without comment. Because she acted alone on the urgent matter, under Supreme Court rules, the unsuccessful applicant is allowed to present the application to another justice if he chooses.
The applicant is Masahide Kanayama, a lawful U.S. permanent resident and Japanese citizen who is also a Christian missionary. The respondent, Scott Kowal, is chief of the United States pretrial services for the Southern District of New York….