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Originally Posted by StanF18
Anyway, the terrorists should not be using trails in NYC. There are plenty of nice trails in the mountains of Pakistan.
As for the trIAL....I don't know if the framers of the 14th Amendment envisioned commercial aircraft being used as WMD against skyscrapers. Krimson: If you frame it as an 'Act of war' rather than plain old murder, perhaps a case can still be made for a military tribunal vs. a civilian jury??
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No, I am not arguing civil trials vs. tribunals. What I am saying is that had the gov't brought the prisoners to U.S. soil, they would, under the 14th amendment, be required to treat those prisoners as "persons" giving them due process of law and the right to a just and speedy trial. Had they left them in Iraq, they would have been held under Iraqui law, or any other law of any other soverign nation where they were being held and tried.
What Gitmo created was terrorists purgatory, allowing the federal government to hold these terrorists for as long as they wanted without bringing formal charges. Under U.S. Constitution ,you have to bring a letter of indictment within so many days of arrest.
However, it is my opinion that wherever the U.S. flag flies (i.e., military outpost, base, Embassy) is soverign land. I would argue that Gitmo avails itself to the Constitution and the 14th amendment.