Legal Commentary

Gibbs: KSM Will "Meet His Maker"

By Jeralyn

Why bother with a trial? Just call out the firing squad. Here's Obama Press secretary Robert Gibbs today:

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he’s going to meet his maker," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told John King on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning. "He's likely to be executed for the heinous crimes he committed," he added.

Former SDNY AUSA Cynthia Kouril at Firedoglake weighs in on this one. (Extra props for mentioning defense counsel.) [More...]

The New York Times in an editorial today on why the trials should be held in a federal criminal court:

This trial would draw attention if it were held atop Pikes Peak. And isn’t the idea of a public trial a bedrock principle of American justice?

Holding the trial in New York would be inconvenient. Democracy makes demands on its citizens. It is inconvenient to serve on a jury, too. This was just not-in-my-backyard-ism. Nearly 10 years after 9/11, it is sad if this country cannot freely conduct its business in Lower Manhattan.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 31, 2010 (boomark / email).