"The Nazis sought to halt the proceedings with habeas corpus petitions, claiming that since the state and federal criminal courts were available, the military tribunal had no jurisdiction. The Supreme Court rejected the claims, and let the military tribunal's convictions of the men for violating the laws of war, spying and conspiracy stand. The Supreme Court noted: "The … enemy combatant who without uniform comes secretly through the lines for the purpose of waging war by destruction of life or property, are familiar examples of belligerents who are generally deemed … to be offenders against the law of war subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals."
Since Congress hasn't declared war and there is no Constitutional prohibition against the use of military tribunals to address terrorism such as the September 11th attack, it is imperative for Congress to pass a law authorizing the use of Military tribunals against the terrorists who committed these atrocities.
Our criminal justice system is not equipped to handle terrorism of this scale, as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing cases showed. First, the threat of terrorist retaliation against jurors could result in not guilty verdicts based on juror fear, rather than lack of incriminating evidence. Secondly, sometimes relevant evidence may not be presented to the juries because of national security concerns. Finally, we cannot overlook the clear danger of gullible juries bamboozled by legal chicanery from unscrupulous lawyers like the O.J. "dream team." These problems would not be a factor with military tribunals. Furthermore, military personnel are trained to deal with war criminals. Military tribunals are far better equipped than regular criminal juries to render impartial and just verdicts in these types of cases.
Since Congress hasn't declared war and there is no Constitutional prohibition against the use of military tribunals to address terrorism such as the September 11th attack, it is imperative for Congress to pass a law authorizing the use of Military tribunals against the terrorists who committed these atrocities.
Here's my problem... I want military tribunals, I totally understand their necessity. But only with a declaration of war. I don't want to set the precedent of suspending due process and our civil liberties without the President and the Congress fulfilling their Constitutional obligation to ask for and grant a formal Declaration of War.
Two things disturb me about the way this war has been conducted:
- It hasn't been formally declared.
- Insufficient attention has been paid to all of the alien non-citizens currently in this country.
I have yet to hear a good reason for either. I haven't even heard any bad reasons.
