In Re Hart

This appeal is prosecuted by the People from an order granting the application of respondent, Benjamin Franklin Hart, for a writ of habeas corpus.

The facts leading up and pertaining to the controversial event are not disputed, and may be summarized as follows: On March 15, 1963, the Governor of the State of Kansas issued a requisition for extradition of respondent. The requisition alleged that respondent had been duly charged in Kansas with the crime of child desertion, in that he did “unlawfully, feloniously, wilfully and without lawful excuse, desert, neglect and refuse to provide for the support and maintenance of his minor child . . . said child being then and there and since that time in destitute and necessitous circumstances.” The extradition papers also contained an affidavit of respondent’s former wife stating that, in Jackson County, Oklahoma, respondent was ordered to pay child support in the amount of $70 per month starting May 1960, and that he had not paid any support since August 1960. The affidavit further stated that respondent resided in South America and that the Uniform Reciprocal Support Act did not grant an adequate remedy to assure the payment of child…