"It surely is.  Also it's legal.  Honey, do you now see why so many people are interested in who Smith is and where he came from?  And why the administration is so damned anxious to keep him under a rug?  What they are doing isn't even vaguely legal.  Smith is also a citizen of the United States and of the Federation, by derivation - dual citizenship with no conflict.  It's illegal to hold a citizen, even a convicted criminal, incommunicado anywhere in the Federation; that's one of the things we settled in World War Three.  But I doubt if Smith knows his rights.  Also, it has been considered an unfriendly act all through history to lock up a visiting friendly monarch - which is what he is - and not to let him see people, especially the press, meaning me.  You still won't sneak me in as a thumbfingered electrician?"