Spassky's appeal for Fischer.(Insider Report)(Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer.)(Brief Article)

In mid-August, Japan turned down an asylum request from American-born chess champion Bobby Fischer, who faces extradition to the U.S. to stand trial for violating UN sanctions against Yugoslavia. In 1992, Fischer--in defiance of a UN embargo, and after spitting on a letter of warning from the State Department--played a rematch against his storied Russian chess opponent, world champion Boris Spassky.

For the supposed crime of playing chess in defiance of a UN embargo, Fischer faces the prospect of 10 years in prison, a sizeable fine, and forfeiture of $3 million in prize money earned by defeating Spassky for a second time. Fischer, who has renounced U.S. citizenship, has a well-earned reputation for making unpleasant and bigoted public statements, most notoriously his hideous comments praising the terrorists who committed the September 11 atrocities. But the Bush administration has no constitutional warrant to enforce UN dicta against American citizens--or individuals who repudiate U.S. citizenship, regardless of how disgusting their ...