Applying normal standards of due process to a detained terror victim received a surprising result – conviction. We have nothing to fear from using the normal justice system with terror suspects… so long as the evidence is there.
Military tribunals continue to lag behind civil trials for the review of detained terror suspects in terms of fairness and accountability.
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Ok, but I’m not sure the military commissions are “normal standards of due process.” If one reads the press accounts correctly, and one has to wonder what’s being shaded, conviction was assured because the military has a lower burden of proof then civilian criminal courts. So I still say these folks need to be handled in the regular system. If it was good enough for Scooter Libby, it shou d be good enough for terrorists as well.
Posted by Philip H. | August 7, 2008, 9:20 amI am not a lawyer, but I agree with Philip.
Nothing about this process seems normal to me – it is much less than I would expect were I to be placed on trial. From the article you link to:
“the military commission system here does not meet American standards of fundamental justice, in part because the Military Commissions Law allows hearsay evidence and evidence derived through coercive interrogation methods. The public is not allowed in the courtroom, and legal documents are often never released.”
“the military judge in Mr. Hamdan’s case, Capt. Keith J. Allred of the Navy, ruled that many of Mr. Hamdan’s statements to interrogators could be used against him even though he had not had a lawyer and had not been given warnings required in the United States that any statements could be used against him.”
To me, the split verdict was exactly what the Bush administration wanted – they can say, “look this guy was found not guilty, the system works.” Yet they got a conviction that proves that the people they have in Guantanamo really are terrorists.
Posted by didionsdaddy | August 7, 2008, 11:19 amYou’re right – the split verdict suggested to me that the result was, at least, not predetermined, but that’s not enough. Ugh.
Posted by Ames | August 7, 2008, 11:43 am