The Sick Joke That Is Secret Evidence

Low approval ratings are finally changing the decisions made by the Decider.

Bush is set to offer legislation Wednesday to change the law to allow military tribunals to try detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 14 other detainees are getting Geneva Convention status. The Pentagon issued guidelines, on the same day, stating that detainees are to be processed by the Geneva Contention. This is the same administration that tried to say does not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda. This is a 180 in policy.

Much of this has to do with Republican Senators John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham introducing a bill that would allow detainees to see the evidence against them. No more secret evidence.

The Founding Fathers intentionally wrote the Sixth and Seventh amendment to restrict the government from from doing what the Bush administration is now.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Law Professor Brian J. Foley makes a strong argument that secret evidence and Guantanamo Bay makes America less safer.

One purpose of having rigorous rules of evidence, high burdens of proof, and trained counsel to help an accused mount a defense is to improve public safety. Rigorous rules put the government to its proofs when it carries out its crime-fighting and national security duties. Rigorous rules protect us all by helping ensure that the government is truly ferreting out crime and not just putting on a show.

But when winning is easy, there’s no incentive to conduct rigorous investigations. Why sift through evidence or pound the pavement to chase down leads, when it’s so much easier to pound a prisoner instead? Why track down an important witness when you can just use what another prisoner says he heard that witness say, as hearsay?

The administration has a long track record of detaining the wrong people. Torturing and putting on monkey trials only makes America look mean-spirited. The Americans deserve better leadership.

Update: Abu Ghraib has been handed over to the Iraq Ministry of Justice.