Litigation

Obama to Help Decide 9/11 Trial Venue

By Peter Hardin

President Barack Obama plans to “insert himself into the debate” over where to hold the trial of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the   Washington Post quoted unnamed administration officials as saying.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who initially made the decision about a federal court venue in New York City for the widely anticipated trial, was interviewed by the Post and declined to rule out the possibility of a trial by a military commission, although he said that was not his preference. He told the newspaper:

“At the end of the day, wherever this case is tried, in whatever forum, what we have to ensure is that it’s done as transparently as possible and with adherence to all the rules…If we do that, I’m not sure the location or even the forum is as important as what the world sees in that proceeding.”

In the wake of furious debate over the trial venue for Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators, Obama’s taking a role signaled a realization that the process was mishandled and sparked a political backlash, the newspaper added.

Meanwhile Sens. Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Diane Feinstein, chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, endorsed the use of civilian courts for prosection of terror suspects, according to The Blog of Legal Times. They sent their views in a letter to Obama. Recently a group of bipartisan senators  introduced legislation  to bar funding for civilian trials of those accused of the 9/11  attacks (see Gavel Grab).

The New York Times offered a helpful look back at the issue of civilian courts versus military tribunals for handling terrorism suspects in an article headlined, “Terrorism Fight Creates Battle Over Prosecution.” It concluded that since Sept. 11, the record has not supported critics who contend the military tribunal approach will harvest more intelligence and lock up convicted terrorists for longer sentences.

Former FBI Special Agent Ali H. Soufan wrote in a New York Times commentary that from his own experience, civilian courts “are often the more effective venue” for prosecuting terrorists.

Other views on a provocative topic: Michael Gerson penned “Guantanamo Prison: Ugly but Necessary” in the Washington Post, Andrew McCarthy on the civilian prosecution of shoe-bomber Richard Reid in National Review Online, “A Mistake, not a Precedent;” and Ari Shapiro, for WBUR.org, on “Just How Many Terrorists Has the U.S. Convicted?”

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 12, 2010 (boomark / email).