Calder was a federal employee working in Puerto Rico (P). He was involved in an automobile accident and charged with vehicular homicide. P sent an extradition petition to Branstad (D), the governor of Iowa, where Calder fled. D refused to grant the petition because the charges were too severe. P filed a complaint asking a district court to compel the extradition. The court dismissed the complaint under Kentucky v. Dennison 24 How 66 (1861) which held that federal courts had no power to order a governor to fulfill a state's obligation under the Extradition Clause. P appealed.

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