Schumer in 2001: "Ludicrous" to Try 9/11 Plotters in Civilian Courts

Via Hot Air, the Washington Times unearths a quote from New York Senator Chuck Schumer in which, just a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Schumer mocks the idea that anyone would give the 9/11 plotters the same rights afforded to American citizens charged with pick-pocketing.

There are also those prisoners of war who we have captured and will capture in Afghanistan and other countries who will receive a trial of some sort. It is clear we need to try those suspects in a forum that achieves two primary goals-two goals, I might add, that may not conflict. First, the Government must have the power to use even the most sensitive classified evidence against these suspects without compromising national security in any way, shape, or form. In addition, those who commit acts of war against the United States, particularly those who have no color of citizenship, don't deserve the same panoply of due process rights that American citizens receive. Should Osama bin Laden be captured alive-and I imagine most Americans hope he won't be captured alive. But if he is, it is ludicrous to suggest he should be tried in a Federal court on Center Street in Lower Manhattan.

Yesterday, when Holder was asked whether bin Laden would be read Miranda rights if he were captured by U.S. forces, his answer: "that all depends..." Ed Morrissey asks, "What has changed in eight years to transform KSM and his cohorts into people who do 'deserve the same panoply of due process rights that American citizens receive'?" On that, the Washington Times was unable to get a straight answer from Schumer.