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A Man Without a Country

By TChris, Section Court Decisions
Posted on Sat Jul 16, 2005 at 09:55:11 AM EST
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by TChris

Keyse Jama, a legal resident of the United States, participated in a bar fight. A Minnesota judge sentenced Jama to a year in jail, but he spent six years behind bars. Yesterday, an appellate court finally set him free.

Jama's conviction led to a deportation order, and Jama remained incarcerated during his appeal. This January, the Supreme Court (5-4) rejected his claim that he shouldn't be deported to Somalia, a country with no functioning government that could not agree to accept him in advance of the deportation. In April, Jama was flown to Somalia, but Somalia wouldn't take him.

The necessary remedy when no government will lay claim to a man without a country is freedom. Jama richly deserves to get his back.

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    • A Man Without a Country | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:17 PM EST
    I find this case appalling. Where is that "freedom and democracy" we're so crazy about spreading around the world? If this is any example of what it looks like, no wonder they want no part of it in Iraq.

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:17 PM EST
    If getting into a bar fight was enough to get this legal resident deported to Somalia, imagine if this were applied to all legal residents. Mr. Bush would have to make Somalia the 51st state in order to keep half of his southern base.

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:17 PM EST
    Keyse Jama, a legal resident of the United States, participated in a bar fight.
    In late June 1999, Somalian refugee Keyse Jama was arrested and charged with assault following a stabbing incident in Minnesota. In September of that year, Jama pled guilty to felony third degree assault. Under federal law, the government has the authority to deport foreign-born residents who have been convicted of serious crimes, and government officials began proceedings to send Jama back to Somalia.
    Stabbing, bar fight what’s the difference?

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:18 PM EST
    Six years isn't enough for you a**holes?

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#5)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:18 PM EST
    I'd be all for deporting somebody who does this while here as a guest:
    Stillwater, Minn. — Keyse Jama's odyssey through the legal system began in a Waseca parking lot on an early June morning in 1999. Jama, now 26, who acknowledges he drank heavily at the time, fought three other Somali men from opposing clans. Waseca police reports say Jama stabbed the men -- one in the shoulder, one in the hand, and another in the arm. Jama pleaded guilty to third degree assault. The judge sentenced him to a year and a day in jail for his crime.
    ... if only there was someplace to deport him to.

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:18 PM EST
    The judge gave the man a year. He served that, and several more. No one is saying he shouldn't have been tried and sentenced. It's the rest of it I have a serious problem with.

    Re: A Man Without a Country (none / 0) (#7)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:20 PM EST
    The necessary remedy when no government will lay claim to a man without a country is freedom. Jama richly deserves to get his back.
    Of course, his country is Somalia. What we should do with him until such time as he can get his country back is a moral issue with which we must wrangle. But let's not confuse the issue.

    A Man Without a Country | 7 comments (7 topical)