Don’t Try Terrorists, Lock Them Up
An opinion piece published in The New York Times on October 8, 2010 entitled "Don't Try Terrorists, Lock them Up," highlights Jack Goldsmith's beliefs that "Mr. Ghailani and his fellow detainees at Guantanamo Bay are a different matter," in that prosecution in either criminal court or a military tribunal is the wrong approach.
Goldsmith is a staunch advocate of military detention without charge or trial. Military detention proceedings, which Goldsmith notes were "once legally controversial but now [are] not," present the best forum to try alleged terrorists where these proceedings have "relatively forgiving evidence rules and aren't constrained by constitutional trial rules like the right to a jury and to confront witnesses."
Moreover, while legitimacy is certainly a hallmark of the Obama Administration's goals in attempting to prosecute in either a criminal court or military tribunal, " a conviction in a trial publicly guaranteed not to result in the defendant's release will not be seen as a beacon of legitimacy."
For the full text of yesterday's article, click here.
