re: #499 lawhawk

Triage to determine who gets federal courts and who gets tribunals? That very act raises legal questions that could be avoided by having all tried under tribunals. After all, why would a detainee who gets pushed into a tribunal not want to get tried in federal court since that would likely result in their release because of the higher evidenciary standards. The Administration’s decision to send some to tribunals opens equal protection arguments and still more lawsuits that will delay the operation of the tribunals even further.

I didn’t see this until much later and frankly it requires a little bit of depth.

First, not all detainees have been accused of the same crimes so they necessarily won’t be tried identically. Unfortunately I looked for the Obama quote but I couldn’t find it.

As for the legal mess of trying them in federal court, Equal Protection claims can be made. It’s an argument. There are many arguments. There’s also Due Process: Hamdi. This mess like the economy and the war were not Obamas making but they are now on his watch.

Overall, I think Guantanamo has been counterproductive. We’ve essentially used it as a medieval torture chamber really for prurient domestic consumption, an episode of 24. The intelligence professionals see it as a waste. Torturing doesn’t produce reliable information. The terrorism professionals see it as a recruiting tool for terrorists. It just hasn’t worked.

So they torture some Saudis and then release them to art classes. What did they think they’d do?