Litigation

?Gitmo North? Plan Stirs Ire

By Peter Hardin

A decision by the Obama administration to transfer some Guantanamo Bay terror suspects to a prison in northwestern Illinois, and to hold U.S. military commission trials there, sparked criticism from multiple flanks.

The move would give “…terrorist enemy combatants access to the same rights as U.S. citizens,” protested Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the senior Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, as quoted in an article by Reuters.  “Once on U.S. soil, whether detained in a prison or awaiting trial, Gitmo terrorists can argue for additional rights under the Constitution that may make it harder for prosecutors to obtain a conviction.”

Some civil liberties groups and detainees’ attorneys seized on plans by President Obama to hold some prisoners in Illinois without trial, for an indefinite time, according to the Washington Post. Complained Amnesty International USA, “the only thing that President Obama is doing with this announcement is changing the Zip code of Guantanamo.”

A letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said the U.S. government plan to buy the Thomson Correctional Center will help tackle overcrowding issues in federal prisons and “help achieve our goal of closing the detention center at Guantanamo in a timely, secure, and lawful manner.” FoxNews made public a copy of the letter.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell responded to the announcement, according to Bloomberg, with a statement asserting, “The administration has failed to explain how transferring terrorists to Gitmo North will make Americans safer than keeping these terrorists off of our shores in the secre facility in Cuba.”

To learn more about the debate over trying terror suspects in federal courts as opposed to military commissions, check out these earlier Gavel Grab posts. To learn about protecting civil liberties in a time of danger, check out Justice at Stake?s issue page here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 15, 2009 (boomark / email).