Regifting

No man may be accused, arrested, or
detained except in the cases determined by law
--The Rights of Man, Jean Jacques Rousseau

Sic transit gloria mundi
________

Ali al-Marri, held in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., since June 2003, was adjudicated by a three-judge appelate court panel in June 2007 to be permitted his constitutional right to challenge his accusers in court.

However, "(t)he government asked for the rehearing, and a ruling is expected in several weeks."

In this re-hearing, Judge Paul Niemeyer challenged al-Marri's attorney's assertion that al-Marri could not be held in military custody because he was not captured on a battlefield (Appeals court weighs alleged combatant's Detention.)

"The judge said such a holding would mean '25 or 30 terrorists could sneak into the U.S.' and the military couldn't stop them." Well, yes -- exactly.

A terrorist is a criminal, and is not dealt with via the military. Terrorists, who are criminals, are dealt with via the judicial system. That is as it ever was in our democracy. It is a tripartite system, for a reason. To avoid the creation of a monarch -- a "unitary executive."

It is a sad day in Mudville when a man who wears the robes forgets his jurisdiction.