A U.S. District Judge has ruled that the "terror tribunals" established by the Bush Administration as a result of the September 11 terrorists attacks are unconstitutional. While the Administration will certainly appeal the rulings (and probably prevail in a higher court), I think this ruling makes sense. The biggest problem for the Administration, is that it labeled terorrists "enemy combatants" as opposed to "prisoners of war" and allowed the terrorists some, but not all protections afforded by the Geneva Convention. I submit that as a democratic society with criminal laws based on the right to a fair trial, the Geneva Convention should apply to terrorists, despite their despicable actions. I also note that the Constitution doesn't provide an exception for terrorists or enemy soldiers. I think we lose our identity as a democracy that respects human rights when we decide that any persons are not fit to be afforded those rights, even if those people are not Americans. Once we decide to cut slices out of our constitutional protections, I think it makes all of us less secure.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0411090226nov09,1,5407287.story?coll=chi-printnews-hed
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