Latest GOP Brainstorm: Move the Gitmo Prisoners to Alcatraz??

Professor Douglas Berman of the law school at Ohio State University entertains us with this lively idea from the Republican House leadership:

http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2009/01/should-the-gitmo-prisoners-go-to-alcatraz.html

Not surprisingly, the President's order to close GITMO has everyone talking about where the prisoners now held there will be sent. This Denver Post article, for example, reports on buzz already surrounding the the possibility that the GITMO detainees might be sent to the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

I think there is a pretty good chance that at least some of the GITMO detainees will end up in a federal supermax prison. But I was joyfully gobsmacked when on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning House Minority Leader John Boehner suggested we send them to Alcatraz.
As revealed in this official website, right now Alcatraz Island is a national park. But as detailed in official and unofficial websites, the colorful and dynamic history of Alcatraz (not to mention its secure location) makes it perhaps the most fitting locale for the next chapter of the war on terror.

Thanks, Professor. And thanks to you, Rep. Boehner. That bit of hilarity made my afternoon. And on the Gitmo detainees: why not just unlock the gates and let Raul and Fidel deal with it?

Rational Idealism Comes to Washington, At Last

The Washington Post and other news outlets are reporting that the Obama Administration has instructed military prosecutors to seek 120-day continuances (postponements) of the military proceedings pending against detainees at Guantanamo Bay. That move, in and of itself, confirms the new Administration's commitment to two major principles:

First, the threat of terror does not change the American belief in due process and funadamental fairness in criminal proceedings.

Second, our adversarial, jury-based system of justice is not only the fairest means of conducting criminal proceedings, it is also the most accurate.

The "Star Chamber" procedure used by the last Administration, by contrast, drowned out the American message to the world that liberty is preferable to tyranny. And there is no evidence it got us anything in return. Did President Bush prevent another terrorist attack by his constitution-shredding methods? There's no way to know. It's like the man with the elephant gun in his living room. When his neighbor says, "but there are no elephants in this area," the man waves his gun and says, "Damn right. Cowards."

Thanks to the Obama Administration for recognizing that we have to live free to be free.

The full story is here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012004743_pf.html