Statement from The Constitution Project on resuming Guantánamo tribunals [UPDATE]

the obama administration sinks ever lower...

White House Says Military Tribunals Can Resume at Guantánamo

President Barack Obama issued an order on Monday approving
the resumption of military trials for detainees at Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba, The Associated Press reported.

The order ends a two-year ban on new cases. President Obama
took office promising to close the detention center and
prosecute suspects held there in domestic civilian courts,
but the plan was blocked by controversies over where to hold
the suspects and try them.

the constitution project responds...

The Constitution Project (TCP) issued a statement in reaction to the release of an executive order that would establish a regular review process for Guantánamo detainees who will not be released or tried, and an order to Secretary Gates to refer new charges to the military commissions system.

According to TCP Policy Counsel Mason C. Clutter, "Continuing to arbitrarily hold the detainees without charge for an indefinite period of time is inconsistent with our Constitution and the rule of law. While creating a system of periodic review for the Guantánamo detainees whose habeas petitions have been denied is a welcome improvement over current circumstances, the remaining detainees must be held in a manner consistent with the law of war, brought before a court to face criminal charges, or released. These are the only options available to us that are consistent with our constitutional obligations."

Ms. Clutter further observed, "TCP is pleased that President Obama remains committed to using Article III courts, but is very disappointed that he has decided to give new life to the military commissions without proceeding with parallel prosecutions in our proven civilian criminal justice system. Our civilian criminal justice system remains the most effective tool in America's fight against terrorism, with a track record of handling more than 400 terrorism related cases compared to only 6 cases completed in the military commissions. We urge the President and Congress to work together to repeal current legislation and prevent future legislation that would prohibit the administration from using civilian criminal courts."

In 2009, TCP released Beyond Guantánamo: A Bipartisan Declaration advocating for the use of our traditional federal criminal courts to try the remaining Guantánamo detainees and opposing a system of indefinite detention without charge. The bipartisan Declaration was signed by nearly 140 prominent experts, including former federal judges, prosecutors, diplomats, military and intelligence leaders, and 9/11 victim family members.

i'm sure glenn will weigh in soon and, when he does, i will post an update...

[UPDATE]

while we're waiting for glenn, here's marcy's take...

If detaining someone indefinitely is “necessary to protect against a significant threat to the security of the United States,” Obama says, he can do it.

So I say, fine! Let’s indefinitely detain the banksters that crashed our entire economy. They fairly routinely hold the workers and taxpayers of this country hostage these days, just like terrorists do. And when you account for the number of people they’ve left homeless and hungry, the damage they have done may well surpass that of the attack on 9/11. Clearly, the banksters are a “significant threat to the security of the United States”–they’re the biggest threat to the security of the US. And the genius of Obama’s EO is it doesn’t even require the detainees, themselves, represent a threat. Rather, if their detention is necessitated by the security threat, we can detain them. We don’t have to trouble with sorting the good banksters, like Jamie Dimon, from the bad banksters, like Dick Fuld. We can detain them all, just to make sure we don’t accidentally miss any. (Sorry Bill, we can’t take any risks, so this includes you too!)

Simple as that. Our biggest security threat solved!

indefinitely detain the banksters...?!?!? wow...! i LIKE it...!

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