Civilian courts the right place for terrorism trials - latimes.com

Civilian courts the right place for terrorism trials - latimes.com

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In our view, Congress is wrong and the administration is half-right. We believe that all suspected terrorists at Guantanamo and those arrested in the U.S. should be tried in the civilian courts. But even the administration's selective approach would be difficult to pursue under provisions of a 2012 defense authorization bill approved by the House and the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The House version would preserve a requirement in current law that no Defense Department funds be used to transfer inmates from Guantanamo to the United States, effectively ruling out civilian prosecutions. The bill approved by the Senate committee says that the armed forces are authorized to detain people captured under Congress' post-9/11 laws regarding the use of force. It is unclear whether accused terrorists captured on U.S. soil would have to be turned over to military custody for trial. But that is clearly the preference of many in Congress.

The notion that the civilian criminal justice system can't handle terrorism cases is a canard. Defenders of the civilian system point to the guilty pleas of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear bomber," and Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, two of many terrorism suspects successfully prosecuted in civilian court.

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