| athoughtortwo.com |
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| a thought or two blog by Maurice Emery
Ramblings and ruminations about life after 60
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| Paris, Gitmo, you and the law | |||
| Published in the Littleton Observer: June 13, 2007 | |||
| Who would ever think that writing about a Hollywood celebrity and enemy combatant in the column would ever be considered? On the surface Paris Hilton and the prisoners in U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) are at opposite ends of the spectrum. A closer look will show that they have some common ground. In grouping these two together there are two problems that instantly come to mind. First, neither of these situations would probably ever be used as a poster child for talking about the legal system. Secondly, discussing either in this context might lead some people to think that I am on the side of Hilton or the GITMO prisoners. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am on the side of the law not being used as a political football. By using the law as a political football it lessons the law for all of us. The media loves a Paris Hilton situation. Their ratings go up instantly. They know that in the public’s eyes she has been treated far different than a non celebrity would be. This alone makes it worth watching. What is hidden in all the hype and hoopla is the war that has been going on in Los Angeles County between the Sheriff’s Department and the courts. One court says incarcerate prisoners for the time we specify while another court says you have to find ways to deal with the overcrowding. At this time cutting back on overcrowding means cutting back on the time they have to serve. The sheriff feels that it is far better to cut back on the sentence of non violent prisoners than it is on the violent ones; I would call this a no brainer. When the public looks at this from the outside they only see and hear what the media wants them to see and hear. The public wants to make sure people who belong in prison for any reason do their time. In order them to do their time we need more jail space. But, the public does not want to pay for what it takes to do just that. Reality is that in May 2006 an actress from the television show Lost, Michelle Rodriguez, was originally sentenced for 17 days longer than Hilton for virtually the same charges. She served less than a day in jail. A Los Angeles spokesperson, Contessa Mankiewicz stated at the time, “Our prosecutors are not happy about it, but that is the sad reality of our overcrowded jails.” Last week the Sheriff applied the same thinking for Hilton. She was sent home under house arrest. The public outcry is heard and the judge sends her back to jail. One judge is telling the sheriff not to follow the mandates of another judge. It may seem okay too many, but given the type of crime and the jail situation it is not okay. If she can be caught in a war between the sheriff and a judge with the world watching, then what about all those people that the world does not see or hear about. Our founding fathers were well aware that a fair and equitable court system was necessary to guarantee the freedoms the constitution provides. Whenever anyone from the President on down uses or abuses the system we are all at risk. The problem is that trying to make people aware of it is much like trying to get people to have a weather disaster kit on hand; no one thinks they will ever need it, so why worry about it. In these cases the law is no different. If you ignore the abuses of the system now, no matter how minor it may seem, if you are ever in a position to need the protections that are supposed to be provided they will not be there. Prisoners at GITMO were put there for a good reason, but in order for our rights to be enforced they must also have rights. You can’t just ignore a law because it does not serve your purpose. One of the back bones of our legal system is what is called Habeas Corpus. Simply put, a writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he or she should be released from custody. The military also has to comply with international law. Part of the international law is what is commonly referred to as the Geneva Convention. Simply put these are the laws that are supposed to be followed for prisoners of war. Every person who has served in the military is familiar with them. There has always been an ongoing battle between people who say that if the parties we are at war with do not follow the laws of the Geneva Convention, so why should we. We should follow them because it is the law. Hiding behind terms like enemy combatant and detainee instead of prisoners of war is just a way to make those in charge feel better for what they are doing. Future generations will determine whether or not terrorist are soldiers in a war or just criminals, but regardless there are laws to be followed in either case. When we ignore the laws of war we put our own troops at a higher risk of being mistreated. I for one want to do all I can to make sure if our soldiers do end up as prisoners of war, they are treated as humanly as possible, not just locked up and no one knows were they are or why they are there. The bottom line is that it makes no difference whether you talk about Hilton or GITMO Prisoners the laws dealing with them must be followed. For our own protection the individuals must not be used as political footballs. It makes no difference whether you are talking about a war between the Los Angeles county sheriffs department and the Los Angeles county court system or a war between the United States and terrorist the law must not be used as the weapon to solve the problem. It is up to us to make sure this does not happen. |
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