[livius]

One recalls the disastrous 1878 jury acquittal in St. Petersburg of Vera Zasulich for the attempted assassination of General Trepov, on the grounds of the supposed purity of her motives. The acquittal destroyed all hope of establishing the rule of law in Russia and ushered in an age of terrorism that led directly to one of the greatest catastrophes in human history.

This was one of the most interesting observations in this very interesting article.

You will recall that many of our radicals - including Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn - went virtually unpunished when they were finally apprehended. Judges looked for any way to dismiss charges against them and to give them trivial sentences if they had to be tried and found guilty. It was because they were somehow special, they were not just thugs, they had ideals that excused anything they did.

Oddly enough, trying to impose one's ideology through terrorism was once considered a very grave crime and subject to more severe punishments. But the left in the US spent decades, starting with Sacco and Vanzetti, trying to legitimize left wing radicals - and they succeeded.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[It was because they were somehow special, they were not just thugs, they had ideals that excused anything they did.]

True. Also, the Johnson-Nixon-Ford administration wanted to avoid the circus that occurred in Chicago when the YIPies and others were tried for crossing state lines to incite riot.

Part of the wisdom of attempting to deny terrorists public trials is that the event will be used by defendants, their counsel and witnesses to affect public perception and recruit more minions from around the world.