Litigation

NY Times: ?Things Can Get Worse? on Detainee Policies

By Peter Hardin

Reflecting on Attorney General Eric Holder’s testimony before Congress, a New York Times editorial says progress has halted on the U.S. government’s defining detainee and terror-trial policies. It  urges President Obama to act boldly before further ground is lost.

The Times uses Holder’s testimony as a jumping-off point, describing his “struggle…to answer senators? questions about the detention and trial of terrorism suspects.” That “made us nostalgic for the old days ? back in 2009 ? when the United States was making progress toward cleaning up the mess President George W. Bush made with his detention policies,” the editorial says.

Now, the Times contends, an unfortunate mix of factors has stalled the progress:

“All of that has stopped ? because of Republican fear-mongering, administration blundering and Democratic not-in-my-backyardism. And unless President Obama grabs hold, things could get far worse.”

The editorial backs a presumption that terror suspects will be prosecuted in federal civilian courts. But Holder “blew the politics” of planning a New York trial in civilian court for accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, it asserts.

The editorial concedes that trying Mohammed in a military court “is at least explainable” because the Pentagon was attacked on 9/11. But it urges Obama not to give up on a presumption of federal court jurisdiction over terrorist acts:

“That would continue the unjust system that has made other countries reluctant to turn prisoners over to the United States, elevates criminals to the status of warrior and serves as a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda.”

You can read in Gavel Grab about Holder’s testifying on Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, or browse these earlier Gavel Grab posts to learn more about the debate over detaining and prosecuting terror suspects.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).