Military tribunals as a prosecution system for corrupt officials is being promoted or supported by too many people on the right.
Fringe “news resources” are selling this horrible idea to people who do not know the history of tribunals or our Constitution.
The tribunal fake news rumors vary in details but the dangerous belief that military tribunals should be a solution for fixing corruption is about as un-American and unconstitutional as one can be.
I don’t have time for a lengthy history of it so here are enough basic facts to illustrate the point.
The use of military tribunals to prosecute citizens for crimes is not new. It first surfaced as a frontline issue in 1806.
It was shut down because of constitutional protections in our Bill of Rights.
The next big test came during the final stages of our Civil War. Five citizens were charged and convicted by a military tribunal. The Supreme Court threw out the sentencing by the tribunal. As it should have and as it still can.
The subject came up again during WW1 in a protracted series of actions, bills and rule changes proposed by a rabid zealot named Charles Warren. During his years of fighting to turn loose tribunals the entire concept was debated in detail against constitutional questions. The tribunals lost.
Our 2nd Amendment rights are guaranteed because a government can become bad enough to use such tribunals against large groups of citizens.
Dictatorships use military courts against citizens. Not us.
Trump is not secretly establishing military tribunals to attack “Deep State” participants. Trump is working to restore our Constitution, not trample it.
Our Constitution defines our court process and associated guarantees of rights in our 6th Amendment. It is very clear. US citizens have a right to a speedy trial by jury of our peers. It establishes that trials of citizens take place in the state or district where the crime allegedly ocurred.
Note: We have state, local and federal district courts. They have full constitutional jurisdiction. Military tribunals are not granted power to do the same. This system is a protected right just the same as free speech and gun ownership.
The 6th Amendment was crafted to clarify guaranteed rights not well defined in our original Constitution. However; Article 1, section 9, clause 2 is another roadblock protecting us from desired abuses by military tribunals.
This clause, also known as the “Suspension Clause,” very clearly states “the privilege of the writ of Habeus Corpus shall not be suspended.” Tribunal advocates support the false belief President Trump and/or the DOJ are working with tribunals preparing to round up and arrest 10-45,000 criminally corrupt citizen officials etc. That is outrageously absurd. Unless we throw out our Constitution. It is not legal in any way, shape or form to incarcerate citizens in that manner. They must be informed of charges and those holding them must prove to a court that substantial evidence exists to support the charge and validate the incarceration.
In summary….forget or ignore all the Qanon nonsense about military tribunals. Any other source suggesting the same should be equally ignored.
Our Constitution is still in place and military tribunals are limited in scope because of it.
