Should citizenship of terrorism suspects be revoked?

[Individualist]

Question: Do you support Joseph Lieberman's attempt to strip citizenship from terrorism suspects? The linked article's headline says that's what Lieberman is proposing, but it only quotes him as saying they must have joined a terrorist organization. Apparently, the law doesn't cover all terrorism suspects, just members of "terrorist organizations." Who will "convict" them of such membership. I'm guessing it won't be a jury.

Subquestion: Should Faisal Shahzad have been read his Miranda rights?

Also see this: Fear Itself.

[Darfius]

Even those accused of treason do not have their citizenship stripped. If one citizen loses his right to due process, we all do. If he is guilty, it should not be problematic to prove so.

[Individualist]

Even those accused of treason do not have their citizenship stripped. If one citizen loses his right to due process, we all do. If he is guilty, it should not be problematic to prove so.

Can we extrapolate this reasoning to cover non-citizens?

[Jnthn]

Non citizens? Possibly deportation may be an appropriate response.

J

[Darfius]

Can we extrapolate this reasoning to cover non-citizens?

I would say so, assuming we are not speaking of immediate enemy combatants (POW's should be given trial by jury, with perhaps military witnesses and prosecutor, but civilian judge, defense lawyer and jury) and unless extradition was more appropriate.

If we value fairness at all, we must do so on the only sound basis available--that of our common humanity. As a Christian I believe this was given us by God, but we can all agree that it exists. Humanity transcends all borders, so we must treat all humanely if we would seek to preserve such treatment for ourselves. As such, crimes should be prosecuted with the utmost fairness and transparency, eliminating as much as possible any avenues for corruption and injustice. Military tribunals should never have the power to impose the death penalty or detain indefinitely without formal charges and scrupulous records should be kept of all actions for complete transparency and accountability.

Men are not gods and the assimilation of men into a government does not transform them into gods, either. Human fallibility should be ever present in the minds of those who seek to uphold the cause of justice and thus transparency and accountability in all prosecution are not optional, but absolutely vital.

[seanD]

Question: Do you support Joseph Lieberman's attempt to strip citizenship from terrorism suspects? The linked article's headline says that's what Lieberman is proposing, but it only quotes him as saying they must have joined a terrorist organization.

The question is what constitutes a terrorist and/or a terrorist organization? Is it a suspect caught in the act, or someone suspected of being a terrorist. And if it's the latter, who makes that determination, and how do we know it's always accurate and factual?

[Little Shepherd]

If someone commits treason, and it can be rightly determined by due process that such has occurred, then stripping one of citizenship is perfectly fine. In fact, that is the current state of laws concerning treason. Death is also an option in some cases.

I've seen conflicting information concerning the Lieberman proposal. If it simply states that people who join terrorist organizations can be accused of treason, it seems superfluous. Any court worth its salt would recognize current treason laws as applying to such cases already.

If on the other hand it is a proposal to strip citizenship from people who have not been convicted via due process proceedings . . . no, that should never happen. That is unacceptable.

[NeilUnreal]

This idea must have the founding fathers spinning their graves.

If a state has the power to strip the citizenship of a suspect without due process (including a jury trial), the state essentially has the power to strip the citizenship of any person for any reason. In other words, the idea that we are citizens of a republic would become meaningless; we would become merely the subjects of a ruling authority.

Even the Magna Carta provided us with more rights when we were still colonists in 1775.

-Neil

[OtherCheek]

Question: Do you support Joseph Lieberman's attempt to strip citizenship from terrorism suspects? The linked article's headline says that's what Lieberman is proposing, but it only quotes him as saying they must have joined a terrorist organization. Apparently, the law doesn't cover all terrorism suspects, just members of "terrorist organizations." Who will "convict" them of such membership. I'm guessing it won't be a jury.

Subquestion: Should Faisal Shahzad have been read his Miranda rights?

Also see this: Fear Itself.

NO.

Rights should not be stripped without prior conviction.

I do not trust any government with the authority to strip rights based upon suspicion.