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In U.S., Justice For All

So the question must be asked: Is the President releasing terrorists?

The answer is no. It turns out that the overwhelming majority of Guantanamo detainees have no connection to terrorist activity. The Pentagon even announced it would release one-third of the remaining detainees, acknowledging they pose no threat to national security.

The fact is the Guantanamo prison system is far more effective at releasing detainees abroad than trying them at home. None of the detainees have been convicted by an American court of any crime. And only 10 were eligible to be tried by Bush's military commissions, which the Supreme Court recently rejected as unconstitutional.

Now there comes an opportunity for a new approach, but the administration is stubbornly pressing Congress to pass a bill authorizing a system to try the detainees that is similar to the commissions. That would be a mistake for two reasons.

First, the Supreme Court rejected Bush's commissions because they were not "regularly constituted courts," as required by domestic and international law. The new proposals would fail that same test.

Second, the President's newest proposal would permit hearsay evidence and allow detainees to be convicted and executed after being excluded from their own trials, a measure unheard of in civilized nations. (Even former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein can attend his trial.) And the new draft oddly has no speedy trial requirement, effectively allowing unlimited detention of innocent people.

There is a better way.

Detainees caught on the battlefield can be court-martialed and tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. All other detainees can be tried under the nation's existing civil laws. Civilian courts have resolved terrorism cases before, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

Courts martial and civilian courts also are more likely to accurately determine who is a threat and who should be released.

Applying the military code to the detainees is not a new or radical solution. The military's top brass called for trials by court-martial in 2001, and today leading military lawyers are urging the administration and Congress to use the code to prosecute detainees. This standard is sufficient for the Supreme Court, which specifically noted that detainees could be court-martialed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The higher standards of military code and civilian courts also are in the best interest of the U.S. because they enhance America's moral authority. Imprisoning innocent people for years without trial is not only a waste of time and resources, it violates the rights in the U.S. Constitution and common standards of decency. As people across the political spectrum have emphasized, today America is not only at war, but also engaged in a battle of ideas.

One of our founding principles is justice for all, and it is needed now more than ever.

*Bill Goodman is the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which won the 2004 Supreme Court case establishing the Guantanamo detainees' rights to challenge their detention.

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