Portable Justice
Some 35 years ago, after a spate of airplane highjackings, the late Ed Davis, then the colorful Chief of the LAPD, had a rather novel idea on how to deal with the problem:
Mr. Davis said, in 1972, concerning airline hijackers: "I recommend we have a portable gallows, and after we have the death penalty back in, we conduct a rapid trial for a hijacker out there, and hang him with due process out there at the airport."
It appears from an article in today's NY Times that the current administration has taken that suggestion to heart when it comes to the Guantanamo Bay dog-and-pony show trials.
...in the five-year effort to prosecute Guantánamo detainees, very little has gone according to plan. So, to be ready for all eventualities, the Pentagon’s new judicial complex is portable — a prefabricated but very high-tech court building surrounded by trailers, moveable cells, concertina wire and a tent city — all of which has been shipped here in pieces that could be unplugged, disassembled and put back together somewhere else. ...
The centerpiece will be the courthouse, a squat, windowless structure of corrugated metal. Though it will hardly be much to look at, it will be outfitted with the latest in trial technology: a computerized system for digital document display; wiring for hidden translators working in as many as five languages; and a 10-camera automated system to beam video of the proceedings to a press center in an aging aircraft hangar nearby.
One new feature for trials expected to involve classified evidence is a plexiglass window separating the small press and spectator gallery from the floor of the courtroom. At the touch of a button, the military judge will be able to cut off the sound in the spectator section.
The tent city, complete with military cots and a recreation tent, is where some 550 court officials, lawyers, security guards and journalists from around the world are to live for weeks at a time once military commissions get under way, perhaps as soon as this spring. ...
The flapping tents and the outdoor plumbing seem to be sending a signal of ambivalence, said Charles D. Swift, a retired Navy lawyer and visiting professor at Emory University School of Law who has been involved in the Guantánamo cases from the start.
Professor Swift said the construction showed that some people in the government were pushing to move the military commissions along at a faster pace, more than five years after the first detainees arrived here. But, at the same time, he said, “you could walk away from this at any moment.”
Neal R. Sonnett, a Miami lawyer who has been an observer at Guantánamo for the American Bar Association, said given the have-court-will-travel aspect of the construction, “I would read it that there is not a high level of confidence that Guantánamo is going to be around as a detention facility.”
The new tent city and outdoor porta-johns for the attorneys involved should make for some pretty interesting living conditions. We have been assured that food will be trucked into the new camp from the main Guantanamo Bay kitchens, and that means orange chicken on Fridays, which is, I guess, something for the attorneys to look forward to.
The impermanent structures also seem to imply that the administration realizes that the sell-by date for Guantanamo Bay as detention center may be approaching rapidly, perhaps as soon as January, 2009. One wonders where the new center will be located: offshore in another country? I guess that depends on how the next general election goes.
Mr. Davis said, in 1972, concerning airline hijackers: "I recommend we have a portable gallows, and after we have the death penalty back in, we conduct a rapid trial for a hijacker out there, and hang him with due process out there at the airport."
It appears from an article in today's NY Times that the current administration has taken that suggestion to heart when it comes to the Guantanamo Bay dog-and-pony show trials.
...in the five-year effort to prosecute Guantánamo detainees, very little has gone according to plan. So, to be ready for all eventualities, the Pentagon’s new judicial complex is portable — a prefabricated but very high-tech court building surrounded by trailers, moveable cells, concertina wire and a tent city — all of which has been shipped here in pieces that could be unplugged, disassembled and put back together somewhere else. ...
The centerpiece will be the courthouse, a squat, windowless structure of corrugated metal. Though it will hardly be much to look at, it will be outfitted with the latest in trial technology: a computerized system for digital document display; wiring for hidden translators working in as many as five languages; and a 10-camera automated system to beam video of the proceedings to a press center in an aging aircraft hangar nearby.
One new feature for trials expected to involve classified evidence is a plexiglass window separating the small press and spectator gallery from the floor of the courtroom. At the touch of a button, the military judge will be able to cut off the sound in the spectator section.
The tent city, complete with military cots and a recreation tent, is where some 550 court officials, lawyers, security guards and journalists from around the world are to live for weeks at a time once military commissions get under way, perhaps as soon as this spring. ...
The flapping tents and the outdoor plumbing seem to be sending a signal of ambivalence, said Charles D. Swift, a retired Navy lawyer and visiting professor at Emory University School of Law who has been involved in the Guantánamo cases from the start.
Professor Swift said the construction showed that some people in the government were pushing to move the military commissions along at a faster pace, more than five years after the first detainees arrived here. But, at the same time, he said, “you could walk away from this at any moment.”
Neal R. Sonnett, a Miami lawyer who has been an observer at Guantánamo for the American Bar Association, said given the have-court-will-travel aspect of the construction, “I would read it that there is not a high level of confidence that Guantánamo is going to be around as a detention facility.”
The new tent city and outdoor porta-johns for the attorneys involved should make for some pretty interesting living conditions. We have been assured that food will be trucked into the new camp from the main Guantanamo Bay kitchens, and that means orange chicken on Fridays, which is, I guess, something for the attorneys to look forward to.
The impermanent structures also seem to imply that the administration realizes that the sell-by date for Guantanamo Bay as detention center may be approaching rapidly, perhaps as soon as January, 2009. One wonders where the new center will be located: offshore in another country? I guess that depends on how the next general election goes.
Labels: Guantanamo Bay
posted by Diane at 3:32 AM
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