Slate’s Emily Bazelon argues that the Obama Justice Department is right to ignore calls by Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain to hold Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an “enemy combatant”:
None of the evidence so far suggests that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev or his older brother, Tamerlan, are connected to al-Qaida or any group associated with it. To the contrary. Authorities keep stressing that the brothers appear to have acted alone. Yes, Tsarnaev and his brother are Muslims, and at some point they were radicalized, but Congress has never said that we are fighting Muslim extremists everywhere.
It’s also important that the key 2011 provision in which Congress said whom the president can detain “exempts U.S. citizens entirely,” as Benjamin Wittes explained at the time. Similarly the 2009 Military Commission Act—which Graham wrote—states that American citizens may not be tried by military commission.
Graham acknowledged as much in his press release: “As to any future trial, if this suspect is an American citizen he is not subject to military commission trial.” But he says this doesn’t matter for purposes of detention. Here’s his proposal: Throw Dzhokhar Tsarnaev into a military brig for some prolonged period of time, once his wounds heal sufficiently, and then hand him over to military and CIA interrogators, without a lawyer or any of the other rights criminal defendants are entitled to in American courts. Then turn him over to the court system later.
Graham asserts that the courts would go along with this approach, even though it’s not been used before, and Congress hasn’t authorized it. I’d like to think he’s wrong. Graham’s approach also insults the interrogation capabilities of the FBI for no particular reason. And it fails to address what happens if Tsarnaev refuses to answer questions: McCain and Graham are decent enough to say that Tsarnaev “must be humanely treated.”
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2013.
Neither brother worked, they drove a new Mercedes and a Porsche. Where did the money come from?
Follow the Money-trail and usually the truth will be revealed….
His life is over as a free man, and that’s a good thing. Common criminals do not create shrapnel bombs and the kill innocent civilians, beautiful little children, housewives, exchange students and tourists. So why should he be tried as a common criminal? I think he acted like an undercover agent/soldier/jihadi/terrorist. This screaming match about his “rights” does not preclude the militaristic purpose of his depraved acts.
The brother still living should be designated as enemy combatants, sent to Gitmo, and waterboarded until the authorities are absolutely certain he has nothing left to tell them. Then he can be sent back to the states for a trial.
He still is an American citizen, and again we must look at the process by which we handle this situation. Could this effect all American Citizens in court hearing on any scale matter? Are we giving away our rights by allowing this to happen?
By all means, try Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a civilian court and extract as much information from him about any associations and planning for this horrendous event. Then, convict him and send the little jerk to a prison in some remote area where he can spend the rest of his sorry life.
I think his whole family come here for one reason only, to live off of Americans and to kill us. He deserves nothing but death.