Thursday

Another little Slate piece...

The real price of trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. - By David Feige - Slate Magazine

6 comments:

Dana King said...

I read the piece in Slate and found it thought-provoking. My question is: what do you suggest be done with KSM?

Indefensible said...

I think he needs to be tried here. I just find it tragic that the results of that trial will be so corrosive.

Then again, I wouldn't cry too much if all the evidence were suppressed, the charges were dismissed and he was deported and almost immediately killed by a hellfire missile fired from a drone that had tracked him from the moment of his release. I'm fine with killing him while engaged in war. But I'm saddened to see us corrupt our own vibrant and effective processes.

Dana King said...

Thanks for the speedy reply.

I've scanned through old blog posts; lots of interesting stuff. As a pre-published crime fiction writer, it's a potentially rich vein of plot twists and story ideas.

I have one question, if I may. I mean no disrespect by it, but think it's a question a lot of people outside the legal profession wonder about, and was tangentially touched on in the Slate article.

The relatively recent (post-Perry mason) harsh public attitudes toward defense attorneys may stem from the idea that the lawyer sees his job as getting the client off, no matter what; the average guy doesn't understand how that serves justice. I know they're exceptions, but what's a layman to think when a defendant changes a plea from not guilty to guilty when a new piece of evidence is discovered, except that he was trying to beat the system, with the complicity of his lawyer?

Like I said, I don't mean to be argumentative; I'm genuinely curious, as I'm sure are other laymen. That's too extensive a question for a comment, but maybe some day it could be the topic of a blog post.

Indefensible said...

That's what Raising the Bar is for...

Dana King said...

Fair answer. I'll check it out.

Thanks.

Daniel Anderson (Wisconsin) said...

It's been awhile since I either commented on this site or emailed you but your jurisprudence essay on Slate got my fingers moving. In one word, excellent. I have not thought long and hard about the consequences of trying KSM in federal district court and you painted a plausible scenario. Keep up the good writing, essays and RTB