The Justice Department’s decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, in a federal court in New York City has elicited several criticisms. Most are pointless, but one — the idea that it will give a terrorist a platform from which he could stir up support in the Muslim world for his radical views — is well taken.
First, let’s dispose of the straw men. John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House, accused the Obama administration of “treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue” — as though “law enforcement” is an epithet. In truth, the White House’s counterterrorism team is composed largely of the same professionals who battled terrorists under President George W.… Seguir leyendo »
The nation is abuzz with praise for law enforcement. After months of careful investigation, involving extensive surveillance and international monitoring of travel and financial records, the authorities disrupt a major Qaeda cell operating domestically, arresting the primary conspirators. The conspirators are indicted and detained, and the nation breathes a sigh of relief.
Until the subway explodes.
The situation described above is not, thankfully, what has happened in the wake of the arrests this month of Najibullah Zazi, his father and several alleged confederates in Colorado and New York. Instead, it describes what happened in England in 2004 when the authorities, in Operation Crevice, arrested several terrorists (five of whom were eventually convicted) but had insufficient evidence to charge several other associates.… Seguir leyendo »
"A menos que suceda un desastre, usted será confirmada". La profecía del senador republicano Lindsey Graham al principio de las audiencias se ha cumplido. Con una holgada mayoría, Sonia Sotomayor fue confirmada por el Senado el pasado jueves como nueva magistrada del Tribunal Supremo de EEUU.
El debate ha sido bastante pacífico. Nada que ver con los ataques demócratas a los jueces Robert Bork (propuesto por Reagan) o Clarence Thomas (propuesto por Bush padre). El primero fue políticamente crucificado, de modo que las tácticas utilizadas contra él fueron tan violentas (no fue confirmado por el Senado) que en la terminología jurídica acabó acuñándose el verbo «to bork» (recogido por el diccionario inglés de Oxford) para definir «el ataque brutal y sistemático contra un candidato a un cargo público para impedir su elección».… Seguir leyendo »
Cuando Judith S. Kaye se retiró de su cargo como juez en jefe del Tribunal de Apelaciones del Estado de Nueva York acababa de cumplir 70 años de edad y 25 de servicio a la judicatura. Durante su mandato, esta mujer formidable había convertido a Nueva York en la primera jurisdicción de su país -es decir, del mundo- para solucionar conflictos contractuales entre empresas, uno de esos logros caracterizados por la discreción de lo perdurable. Como el resto de sus colegas, había sido nombrada por el gobernador y confirmada por el Senado estatal para un mandato de 14 años, que fue renovado.… Seguir leyendo »
I write to you from a US federal prison. It is far from a country club or even a regimental health spa. I work quite hard but fulfillingly, teaching English and the history of the United States to some of my co-residents. There is practically unlimited access to e-mails and the media and plenty of time for visitors.
Many of the other co-residents are quite interesting and affable, often in a Damon Runyon way, and the regime is not uncivilised. In eight months here there has not been the slightest unpleasantness with anyone. It is a little like going back to boarding school, which I somewhat enjoyed nearly 50 years ago (before being expelled for insubordination) and is a sharp change of pace after 16 years as chairman of The Daily Telegraph.… Seguir leyendo »
I have spent 27 years on the federal bench. In particular, my experience with the trial of Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber," leads me to worry about Attorney General Michael Mukasey's comments last week, urging Congress to pass legislation outlining judicial procedures for reviewing Guantanamo detainees' habeas petitions. As constituted, U.S. courts are not only an adequate venue for trying terrorism suspects but are also a tremendous asset in combating terrorism. Congress risks a grave error in creating a parallel system of terrorism courts unmoored from the constitutional values that have served our country so well for so long.
I have great sympathy for those charged with protecting our national security.… Seguir leyendo »
Micahel B. Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee to be attorney general, is coming under increasing fire for his views on what constitutes illegal torture. But the aspect of his philosophy that worries me more is his view of the judiciary’s role in prosecuting the war on terror.
Judge Mukasey expressed his own views on the subject in August in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal in which he argued that our legal system is “strained and mismatched,” and implored Congress to consider “several proposals for a new adjudicatory framework.” Judge Mukasey suggested we strike a different balance between civil liberties and national security in terrorism cases.… Seguir leyendo »
Un hombre de 33 años de edad, de nombre Juan Luna, comparecerá en Chicago ante el juez en los próximos días para responder de una acusación de asesinato de siete personas en un restaurante de la cadena Brown's Chicken, en Palatine (estado de Illinois), cometido el 8 de enero de 1993. La investigación del caso, en el que se descubrieron los cadáveres ensangrentados de las víctimas en el congelador del restaurante, languideció durante más de una década hasta que se identificó ADN de Luna en saliva encontrada en un hueso de pollo en el lugar del crimen.
Después de haberme dedicado a la abogacía durante bastante tiempo a lo largo de varios años como defensor en casos penales, esta utilización de pruebas de ADN me resulta un tanto paradójica, incluso un poco perversa.… Seguir leyendo »
By Jack Goldsmith, a law professor at Harvard, and Eric A. Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago, are the authors of The Limits of International Law. (THE WASHINGTON POST, 04/08/06):
Everyone involved in the contentious negotiations between the White House and Congress over the proper form for military commissions seems to agree on at least one thing: that al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists ought to be prosecuted. We think this assumption is wrong: Terrorist trials are both unnecessary and unwise.
The United States holds more than 400 terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, and 500 or so more at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.… Seguir leyendo »
By Morris B. Hoffman, a state trial judge in Denver and a fellow at the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research and Stephen J. Morse, a professor of law and psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 30/07/06):
In June, the Supreme Court upheld a narrow Arizona test for legal insanity, which asked simply whether mental disorder prevented the defendant from knowing right from wrong. Last week, a Texas jury used a similarly narrow test to decide that Andrea Yates was legally insane when she drowned her five children in a bathtub, allegedly to save them from being tormented forever in hell.… Seguir leyendo »
By P. Sabien Willett, one of a number of lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay prisoners on a pro bono basis (THE WASHINGTON POST, 14/11/05):
As the Senate prepared to vote Thursday to abolish the writ of habeas corpus, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jon Kyl were railing about lawyers like me. Filing lawsuits on behalf of the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Terrorists! Kyl must have said the word 30 times.
As I listened, I wished the senators could meet my client Adel.
Adel is innocent. I don't mean he claims to be. I mean the military says so. It held a secret tribunal and ruled that he is not al Qaeda, not Taliban, not a terrorist.… Seguir leyendo »
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