White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts

[Betty]

OMFG! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080101334.html


Here's a taste:

"A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal. "

"Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors."

" John D. Hutson, the Navy's top uniformed lawyer from 1997 to 2000, said the rules would evidently allow the government to tell a prisoner: "We know you're guilty. We can't tell you why, but there's a guy, we can't tell you who, who told us something. We can't tell you what, but you're guilty."


So - let me see if I got this right. You don't have to be in the military or a terrorist to be tried by a military court where they don't have to present you with a lawyer, a speedy trial, any evidence they hold, or even have any valid evidence at all.

Even better it goes on to say "To secure a death penalty under the draft legislation, at least five jurors must agree, two fewer than under the administration's earlier plan. Courts-martial and federal civilian trials require that 12 jurors agree."

So - the administration that respects life in the womb so much that it won't support stem stell research - but will kill a guy when a majority of people don't think he's guilty, even after he hasn't necessarily rec'd a fair trial in the way most of us would think of one.

Discuss.