Conservatives vs. the Constitution November 25, 2009

by Will

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

November 25, 2009

The Justice Department?s decision to try accused 9-11 Mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four accomplices in a federal civilian court, rather than a military tribunal, has provoked fierce criticism from many conservatives who describe themselves as champions of the Constitution.

For instance, John F. McManus, President of the John Birch Society, told The Hill newspaper that ?These trials [of the accused 9-11 plotters] should be held in military courts?. Their crimes were acts of war (didn't we go to war as a result?), not the acts of ordinary criminals.?

McManus and the organization he represents have often criticized Washington for going to war without a constitutionally required congressional declaration. Yet here McManus dispenses with that compulsory prerequisite in order to justify the use of military tribunals.

The trial of civilians before military tribunals is permissible only in situations in which the civilian court system is no longer functioning. This clearly isn?t the case, a fact that should be obvious to McManus and other self-styled conservative defenders of the Constitution.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

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