Terrorists: Civil vs. Military Trials — Which is More Effective

Huge Fav with the GOP Righties — Why is That

An update on this subject — it's always good to reflect on these well-known high-profile cases (all tried in Civilian Court): 

1. Richard Reid, the “Shoe bomber,” life in super max prison
2. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the “Underwear bomber,” life in super max prison.
3. Ramzi Yousef, “One of the 1993 WTC bombers,” life in super max prison.
4. Zacarias Moussaoui, “The so-called 20^th  hijacker on 9/.11,” life in super max prison.
5. Omar Abdel-Rahman, “The Blind Shiekh who planned the 1993 WTC bombing,” life in super max prison.

In 12 years since the military commissions were set up at Gitmo only seven individuals have been tried and/or convicted:  

1. One, found guilty, Osama bin-Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan, but it was recently reversed on appeal.
2. One, found guilty, sentenced to seven years in prison, but served only nine months of penalty, mostly in Australia, under terms of a plea agreement.
3. One, acquitted on conspiracy charge, but found guilty for providing material support and sentenced to five and a half years, but was credited for 61 months in detention.
4. One, sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 2008, but conviction was vacated by Court of Appeals in 2013.
5. One, Benyam Mohammed, all charges dropped before trial.
6. One, Mohammed Jawad, all charges withdrawn and dismissed.
7. One, N.U. Mohammed, plead guilty to all counts – sentence pending on appeal.

It is also likely that the conviction of Abu Ghaith will be reversed if it were brought in a military commission. He is charged with conspiracy to kill Americans in 2001 and 2002.  However, conspiracy has never before been considered a war crime. So any conviction on that charge by the commissions would likely face the same fate in an eventual appeal.

A few other resources on this subject:

From the NY Times.

From the NY Times. 

From NPR.

From DOJ source