Ok, I know you're coming at this from a different background. And I am not doing a very good job of explaining things, in part because these people, as we both acknowledge, are neither fish nor fowl, neither persons who have violated United States law, nor persons who are covered by any particular Geneva Convention.
Nevertheless, they are being held by US employees and agents, and as such, are entitled to due process and habeas corpus review.
"Due process" is a very nebulous concept, and depends on the individual circumstances.
At a minimum, I would argue, it means that the persons in detention are entitled to review of their status before a neutral fact-finder, notice, the opportunity to be heard, the presumption of innocence, the right to be present, the right to know what evidence is being presented against him, and the right to controvert that evidence.
It's not because of who they are. It's because of who we are.
Most of the things listed above would apply in a civil proceeding as well. It would apply in administrative hearings before non-judicial fact finders, e.g., Worker's Compensation hearings before a state bureaucrat. It would apply to the detention of illegal aliens. It would apply in Small Claims court. That's the way we do things. |
