The porposal by the Bush administration to make coercion and star-court mangling of due process legal has raised ire amongst those who Blog on such things. Some summaries:

"Bloggers roundly excoriate the Bush administration for its proposed military tribunal system. They've also got mixed feelings about yet another death knell for conservatism, and about a new study that proves the way to a man's heart is indeed through his stomach.

Hamdan overdrive: In response to the Supreme Court's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision, the Bush administration has offered a replacement system for trying terror suspects. The defense secretey would have authority to add crimes at his discretion that fall under the purview of proposed military "commissions," which await approval by Congress. Defendants would be deprived of a speedy trial, the opportunity to face their accusers, an injunction against hearsay evidence against them, and immunity from "coercive interrogations." Bloggers aren't happy.

Ronald Bailey at libertarian Reason magazine's Hit and Run sees the administration as a naughty child that has taken its lumps only to run back for more: "Is the Bush Administration taking a cue from how the People's Republic of China conducts secret national security trials? The two Congressional committees hearing testimony today on this scandalously un-American proposal should hold Administration officials in contempt of Congress for violating their oaths to defend the Constitution and toss them in jail."

At Prague Twin, Mike, an American living in the Czech Republic, wants to see the legislative branch scandalized by its submission to this new brand of martial justice: "[A]lthough the [Supreme Court] has already ruled that an almost identical tribunal as the one proposed is unlawful, they left the door open for Congress to approve a tribunal. They made it pretty clear that if the executive submits a plan to Congress, and Congress appoves that plan, the court will not interfere."

At Zaphod's Head, peacenik Glyn Evans of Alberta, Canada, is frightened by the administration's new plan: "I am not sure which is scarier. The ability of the Secretary of Defense to add crimes at will to the list or the lack of rights the detained people no longer get. Is this Justice? Or perhaps is this a sign of even more things to come? Military lawyers complained that the new draft doesn't have enough 'due process rights' for prisoners and it could 'further tarnish America's image'. Well no shit Sherlock."

Equally appalled is the progressive military-affairs aficionado Jason Sigger at The Armchair Generalist: "This White House would rather play its hand for a set of Orwellian criminal procedures than take the chance that processing the Gitmo detainees might result in some of them being found not guilty and freed by current procedures. Maybe the Bush strategy is to delay longer until they can stack the federal courts with more conservative judges (a la Alito and Roberts) that favor these kind of tactics.""

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From Slate.


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