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April 03, 2006
Option 2: Moussaoui thrown into, then off of, burning skyscraper
I am not a big fan of Jonathan "double hearsay" Turley but as Powerline notes today, Turley makes a legitimate argument that it's unusual in the least, in American law, to execute a defendant based upon something less than active participation in a crime. It's a good point, that is, as long as Zacarias Moussaoui should be treated like a garden variety American criminal defendant.
Let's say Turley's right -- and assume his qualms with the death penalty here (Turley explains them here) are reasonable -- from the perspective of American justice. If he's right, and if there are issues or "wrinkles" in this prosecution that are occasioned by the justice system, and if these mean we cannot simply throw this man off a burning building, this only demonstrates that the criminal justice system is not equipped to do "justice" in the sense in which Moussaoui deserves it. It does not mean we anguish over whether Moussaoui's been treated fairly, etc. etc. Ultimately the American people want Moussaoui dead for reasons that cannot be accomodated by the American justice system, and yet they are perfectly legitimate, no?
We cannot prosecute this war and win it, with an approach to terrorist justice that is, in a word, Clintonian. John Hinderaker says the verdict today "probably won't mean much, one way or the other." That may be true, and if so it's unfortunate, because it should be important. But Hinderaker might be ignoring the pernicious effects of the Moussaoui circus itself (appeal anyone?) -- it is a study in the problems with the Clintonian war our present government wants to fight.
Posted by bill at April 3, 2006 08:19 PM
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