Terror trials vary in civilian, military courts

[unhappycamper]

Terror trials vary in civilian, military courts
By Mark Sherman - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 22, 2009 11:24:35 EST

WASHINGTON — The federal courts and military tribunals that will prosecute suspected terrorists vary sharply in their independence, public stature and use of evidence. But the Obama administration has so far offered no clear-cut rationale for how it chooses which system will try a detainee.

The fuzzy line drawn by the administration has made it easier for critics on both the left and right to assert that no firm legal principle is guiding the choices.

The administration has said similarly situated suspects can be tried in either system, while others may still be held without trial because there is insufficient evidence for either proceeding, but they are considered too dangerous to release.

“I think the Obama administration is trying to straddle this debate between whether we should approach al-Qaida as a problem of massive-scale criminality or as a problem of war,” said Matthew Waxman, a former Bush administration State Department and Pentagon official now at Columbia University law school.

Indeed, on Capitol Hill last week, Attorney General Eric Holder testified, “The 9/11 attacks were both an act of war and a violation of our federal criminal law, and they could have been prosecuted in either federal courts or military commissions.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_military_tribunals_112209/