Military Tribunals

5 Pages 1353 Words

Military Tribunals: Unjust and Unnecessary
Nearly 200 years ago, the creators of the Constitution wrote that “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 defense.” The sixth amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees that every person who is a United States citizen is entitled to a “speedy and public” trial. Bush’s new proposal of military tribunals is the antithesis of what the sixth amendment guarantees. By lying down new rules that contradict our Constitution, Bush threatens the very foundation that our great nation was built on, which is the foundation of just and fair rights, rights that will be protected under any circumstance regardless of how convenient it would be to ignore them.
Tribunals are wrong because they blatantly defy our Constitution. Our Constitution is what keeps all the power in every branch of the United States checked. The American Civil Liberties Union refers to the tribunals as “part of an ongoing erosion of the basic checks and balances that are so central to our democracy.”(ACLU 1). Without a Constitution, there would be no order and no system of government. By disregarding what is written in our constitution and allowing these tribunals to take place, Bush has single-handedly “distorted [the Bill of Rights] beyond recognition.” (Stephen 2) It is true that “Congress gave [Bush] the power to use all necessary and appropriate force to fight terrorism” but that does not mean that the solution is tribunals. (Biskupic 1) Tribunals take away a person’s right to...