I feel a crime is punishable based on the local or national laws of it's origin, with exception.

I also feel that in the case of egregious crimes crossing local or national authoritative boundaries or acts by citizens of another locality, the authorities involved must have implemented statutes of extradiction based on official written agreements which are not politically motivated as their source. There must be sufficient legal/moral grounds for the extradition based on both countries laws.

An example of civil crime punishable locally?
A young boy of Colorado shoots a BB gun at tin cans which are only 50ft away but across a state borderline, say Utah, where it's illegal to own or operate a BB gun. What authority does the Utah deputy have if he encounters the boy?

An example of a felonious crime, with complicated extradiction?
A man commits the murder of his family, depletes his bank account and runs away to another country with a lover. In the new country, he has multiple disagreements with his lover and soon enough kills her too. He then hides in another overseas country to escape prosecution. In the final country, he assaults a few people in a pub, one severely, and is hauled into jail. If all 3 countries get word of his whereabouts, to whom is he liable for legal punishment and how do the authorities work this out?

There are far more situations people can get themselves into then laws that strictly apply to a situation and it appears to me, because of this, some laws are applied to cases that are much more "gray" than black and white. In the US, a substantial portion of court judgements are made from case law as we go along and case law has a hefty authoritative weight.

Even so, I believe from a moral/ethical standpoint there should be justice, but how justice is worked out may depend on more than one authority and not every one will be satisfied.

Now that I'm back on the posted subject, I don't know enough of the tangible damage Gary McKinnon caused but I would leave it to the UK authorities to decide if he's extraditable. If the UK decides there is insufficient cause for extradition, then I agree with them. The US should take the proverbial pie in the face, fix their seemingly inadequate security and FIRE the IT directors/technicians responsible for post-911 security laxness.

Simply my feelings based on my limited knowledge of law and justice.

**No suspects or inmates were hurt in the creation of this post**