Even Saddam Hussein is getting a trial. Should he enjoy a right that an American citizen does not?
As everyone knows, in Nazi Germany, a citizen's right to a fair and speedy trial did not exist. Those were the days of the greatest horrors the world has ever seen. But these things always have a beginning.
Nazi Terror Begins:
The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended the provisions of the German constitution that protected basic individual rights, including freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. The decree also permitted increased state and police intervention into private life, allowing officials to censor mail, listen in on phone conversations, and search private homes without a warrant or need to show reasonable cause. Under the state of emergency established by the decree, the Nazi regime could arrest and detain people without cause and without limits on the length of incarceration.
But all of those horror stories about Nazis rounding up people and imprisoning them without charge and without trial could never happen in America, right?
Wrong. It is already happening.
Jose Padilla (born October 18, 1970) is accused of being a terrorist by the United States government. He is currently being detained without charge in a South Carolina military prison under orders of President George W. Bush.
Jose Padilla is a U.S. citizen. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
No trial. His attorneys are not allowed access to him. He has not been charged with a crime. This, of course, is in direct violation of the Sixth Amendment:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
The right to a speedy trial by jury is one of the most fundamental freedoms that Americans enjoy. In addition to being in the Constitution, it is also a 1971 law:
No citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress.
Ah, but he's probably guilty, you say?
It really doesn't matter if he's guilty or not. First of all, if the U.S. Government believes he's guilty, charge him and prove it in a court of law. Secondly, contrary to the above law, Padilla is not being held due to an act of Congress. He's being held merely at the whim of one George W. Bush. And as an article in the Chicago Sun-Times stated:
Padilla may deserve the treatment he is receiving -- perhaps worse. That is not the point. When Americans are taken into custody, they have the right to retain an attorney. Congress must first set the rules. Then an impartial judge, not the president, should make the ultimate decision as to whether the arrest and imprisonment comport with the Constitution.
James Madison, in Federalist No. 47, put it succinctly: "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands ... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."
If the United States government can detain Padilla without cause, then they can hold you without cause, too. All they have to say is that you are a terrorist.
Is that the America you love?
This ruling was recently upheld. From wsws.org, September 13, 2005:
In a ruling with vast implications for basic democratic rights, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday that the Bush administration can continue to incarcerate Jose Padilla, seized May 8, 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare airport, in a military prison, without filing any charges against him.
And from People for the American Way:
This decision means that one man -- the President -- can imprison an American citizen, and hold him without trial -- not for days or weeks or months, but for years, and without specific authorization by Congress.
We know nothing of Padilla's guilt or innocence. But every American, no matter how heinous his alleged crime, deserves his day in court and the judgment of the American legal system. It is our birthright, and the ultimate safeguard of all our freedoms.
To give such power to any presidential administration sends a chill down my spine. What's next?
Even Saddam Hussein is getting a trial. Should he enjoy a right that an American citizen does not?
President Bush has said numerous times that we were attacked because "the terrorists" hate our freedoms. If that is the case, then the terrorists have already won -- because we are losing our freedoms.
Bush & Co. are making it happen. And Americans are letting them get away with it.
Benjamin Franklin once saidThose who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
And Adolf Hitler once said, "What luck for the rulers that men do not think."
Is America as bad as Nazi Germany? No.
Not yet.
There's always a beginning.