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Time to Retire the Military Commissions & While We're At It Close Gitmo
A brand-new blog focusing on national-security-law issues hits a home run in its first at-bat.
http://justsecurity.org/
..............................
Time to Retire the Military Commissions
By Daphne Eviatar
Monday, September 23, 2013 at 9:30 AM
It’s time for the government to cut its losses: move the 9/11 case to a real federal court, where we can finally get on with it. There’s nothing wrong with admitting this was all a big mistake. Given how many people and government branches have their fingerprints on it, everyone involved will find someone else to blame.
.................
While we’re at it, no other terrorism cases should be brought in the Guantanamo commissions, either. U.S. federal courts have safely handled hundreds of these cases; it’s time to stop trying to re-invent the wheel.
Of course, this would require an act of Congress—no easy feat in this political climate. Currently, federal law prohibits the transfer of any Guantanamo detainees to the United States, even for trial. And some in Congress are loathe to do anything that President Obama once supported. But if any of them actually watched some of these hearings, they’d have to agree: the military commissions are a fiasco and an embarrassment. Keeping the most important terrorism trial in U.S. history in this obviously second-rate court system will ultimately do major damage to the United States and the integrity of our justice system.
That legacy will stretch far beyond President Obama’s term in office. And it will stain the hands of everyone who allowed it to happen.
By Daphne Eviatar
Monday, September 23, 2013 at 9:30 AM
It’s time for the government to cut its losses: move the 9/11 case to a real federal court, where we can finally get on with it. There’s nothing wrong with admitting this was all a big mistake. Given how many people and government branches have their fingerprints on it, everyone involved will find someone else to blame.
.................
While we’re at it, no other terrorism cases should be brought in the Guantanamo commissions, either. U.S. federal courts have safely handled hundreds of these cases; it’s time to stop trying to re-invent the wheel.
Of course, this would require an act of Congress—no easy feat in this political climate. Currently, federal law prohibits the transfer of any Guantanamo detainees to the United States, even for trial. And some in Congress are loathe to do anything that President Obama once supported. But if any of them actually watched some of these hearings, they’d have to agree: the military commissions are a fiasco and an embarrassment. Keeping the most important terrorism trial in U.S. history in this obviously second-rate court system will ultimately do major damage to the United States and the integrity of our justice system.
That legacy will stretch far beyond President Obama’s term in office. And it will stain the hands of everyone who allowed it to happen.
the rest:
http://justsecurity.org/2013/09/23/time-retire-military-commissions/