Our legal system at work: Ahmed Gailani; Guantanamo Detainees; Civilian Courts; and American Justice

Ahmed Ghailani was found guilty on only one of two hundred and eighty charges. Ghailani was the first of the Guantanamo detainees to be tried. He isn’t the first accused criminal to not be found guilty of some charges. The result in this trial doesn’t prove that civilian courts are the wrong place to try terrorists. It proves that the government still has to prove its case. It proves that people accused of crimes still have to be proven guilty. It proves that, in our system, people are still presumed innocent. It proves that the freedoms we take great pride in, that we claim set us apart, and that we want others to adopt really do apply to everyone regardless of whether it is expedient or popular. The bottom line here is that the appropriateness of civilian trials cannot be predicated on the result of the trial. Otherwise, what you are saying is that civilian trials only work if the accused are always found guilty. That, isn’t just un-American … it’s absurd.