Prolonged Detention

[Masark]

I'm not saying release all Gitmo prisoners. I'm saying, try them in military tribunals.

No.

Just run them through the ordinary criminal courts. Put them on a plane, fly them from Guantanamo to Ronald Reagan airport, and march them into the DC Superior Court for arraignment, same as any other criminal suspect.

[Deleted]

Obama strikes again !

[Rukentuts]

No.

Just run them through the ordinary criminal courts. Put them on a plane, fly them from Guantanamo to Ronald Reagan airport, and march them into the DC Superior Court for arraignment, same as any other criminal suspect.

I don't know what they're classified as though, because trying a POW doesn't happen. But if they're classified as civilians, then yes.

[Spectral]

Plainly and obviously unconstitutional (and against international laws as well), there's not really any reasonable debate to be had about it, but we've done a fantastic job constructing a legal system that can rationalize whatever behavior we've decided could potentially be in the best interests of "security".

[Rukentuts]

International laws maybe. But I don't know if a terrorist suddenly has constitutional rights the moment he is captured.

[Spectral]

Probably not, it's at least not obvious that they do. If they're American, they certainly do, although we've found delightful little loopholes to pretend they don't.

[Rukentuts]

Yeah, but let's not pretend that even Americans in Yemen with Al-Qaida aren't fair targets to be droned.

[Spectral]

I'm skeptical, but it's a lot more reasonable to me than capturing someone and holding them indefinitely without trial.

[Elegiac]

I'm skeptical, but it's a lot more reasonable to me than capturing someone and holding them indefinitely without trial.

Considering that Obama made a legitimate attempt to shut down Gitmo and put the prisoners there through some sort of judicial process, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

[Spectral]

I'm not blaming Obama. The stupidity of our Gitmo policy requires a sort of emergent complexity that defies individual blame.

[Elegiac]

I'm not blaming Obama. The stupidity of our Gitmo policy requires a sort of emergent complexity that defies individual blame.

Otherwise known as the Republican Party.

[Spectral]

More or less. As I've bitched about repeatedly, the idea that the parties are the same on civil liberties drives me nuts. Congressional Democrats aren't very good (they voted in favor of the original Patriot Act, for example), but they're much less bad (they voted against renewing the Patriot Act, for example).

[Naxere]

I'll be surprised if Gitmo ever closes. Nobody else wants them, and I sure as hell don't want them transferred to the continental US.

[Rukentuts]

I'll be surprised if Gitmo ever closes. Nobody else wants them, and I sure as hell don't want them transferred to the continental US.

Why not? A max security federal pen holds people just as bad (if not worse).

[Elegiac]

Why not? A max security federal pen holds people just as bad (if not worse).

So does Northern Alaska. We can turn it into our own Siberia.

[Naxere]

Why not? A max security federal pen holds people just as bad (if not worse).

Should they be afforded the same rights as US citizens?

[Spectral]

Should they be afforded the same rights as US citizens?

No, but they should be afforded basic human rights, as defined by international standards.

[Rukentuts]

Should they be afforded the same rights as US citizens?

Even federal prisoners don't have the same rights as a law abiding US citizen.

They can't vote, their mail is censored (or even withheld), etc. So I really don't see the problem in tossing them into a Federal Pen.

[time0ut]

I hate the idea of indefinite detention without trial, it goes against everything I believe in.

Spoken like a true terrorist. Detain this man until he proves he is not a terrorist... indefinitely if needed.

Seriously though, I like government powers to have defined limits. Change it from "indefinite" to "up to 1 year" or something reasonable. It shouldn't take forever to figure out if someone is a terrorist.

[Naxere]

Even federal prisoners don't have the same rights as a law abiding US citizen.

They have Sixth Amendment rights afforded to them as citizens. Do we extend those rights to Gitmo prisoners if they are transferred here and placed in a federal pen or do we just detain them indefinitely like we do now without due process?