There are so many logical reasons to do so and so many emotional reasons not to that it is mind-boggling.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who loves publicity, is worried about security. He requested and got at least a 75-million dollar stipend to cover enhanced security for the Big Apple during the trial.
The arguments are valid on all sides. Some family members of the victims of the 9/11 attacks want one thing and others want another; some choices are based on vengeance and some on fear.
Some legal experts and governmental leaders want the terrorists tried in a military court somewhere other than New York. The Attorney General thinks a civilian court would have a better chance of getting a clearer guilty verdict.
A clear guilty verdict is probably a spin for the rest of the world for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has already admitted planning the attack; that admission is good enough for an emotional conviction, but not for the law.
Law professors have said a trial without the presumption of innocence and a chance of freedom is a problem. We all know that some scoundrels have been released on technicalities even though they were not innocent; that is the nature of proof.
America's criminal justice system has a problem. These are all legitimate concerns and need to be addressed for AMERICAN JUSTICE is based on a system of laws and proof, not what we think should be the result.
We don’t have the option of changing the law to suit the crime or our collective desire. We have a responsibility to be fair even though, as Harry Truman would say, “the SOB is guilty”.
Based upon the evidence and admissions as publicly known, I think the terrorists will be found guilty. They will be sentenced to death and the other terrorists of the world will cry foul and unfair and continue their attacks on anything American and anything western because thought and reason are not part of their modern culture.
Why do we go through the difficulties of a public trial? Because that’s America and that’s what we do. Let the terrorist world try even one iota of our judicial system and see how many minutes it lasts.
1 comment:
It's good to see you using the word terrorist, Rolland. When you were moderating the news on Channel 9, you used the term militant to describe these killers. I suppose you were under orders to be politically correct. Anyway, I like your blog. You have much of value to say.
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