A California prison inmate frustrated in his inability to renounce his U.S. citizenship has now lost his latest legal fight, a bid for freedom and $25 million in damages.
In a decision Friday, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected the suit filed by Kirell Taylor, a 38-year-old currently incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison in California's San Joaquin Valley. Mr. Taylor is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for the 1999 robbery, kidnapping and murder of a Southern California businessman.
As summarized by the claims court, "Mr. Taylor sought to voluntarily renounce his citizenship on religious grounds, but the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his request because such renunciation must take place outside of the United States."
Mr. Taylor thereupon asked the court to declare that he is a "stateless person or an alien in-custody without a criminal record." This, the claims court declined to do: no jurisdiction.
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