Ultimately though, for the defendant, a civilian trial may offer little comfort. While Abu Ghaith is entitled to the substantial legal and due process benefits that the civilian criminal justice system has to offer when compared to that of the military commission's tribunal system, it may do him little good in the end. All that is really assured is that, whatever the outcome, the defendant will have been given the same type of trial as a U.S. citizen accused of the same crime, with the same type of media coverage, would have received.
References
Antiterrorism and effective death penalty act of 1996. (1996). Public law 104-132; 110 stat. 1214. Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ132/html/PLAW-104publ132.htm
Dewey, C. (2013, March 7). Who is Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the captured bin Laden son-in-law? [weblog entry]. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/03/07/who-is-sulaiman-abu-ghaith-the-captured-bin-laden-son-in-law/
Hafetz, J. (2011). Habeas corpus after 9/11. New York: NYU Press.
Meyers, J. & Walter, K. (2013, March 11). Andrew McCarthy: Administration undermines terrorist trials with Abu Ghaith capture. Newsmax.com. Retrieved from http://www.newsmax.com/US/obama-abu-ghaith-terrorist/2013/03/11/id/494125
Santora, M. & Rashbaum, W.K. (2013, March 8). Bin Laden relative pleads not guilty in terrorism case. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/09/nyregion/sulaiman-abu-ghaith-bin-ladens-son-in-law-charged-in-new-york.html?_r=0
Walton, R.B. (2010). Prosecuting international terrorism cases in Article III courts. The Georgetown Law Journal, 39, iii-xxiv.
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