9/11 Conspirators: Civilian Trial?

Whether you've been following the story in the news or not, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others are about to be tried for their crimes of terrorism against the USA. Back in November, President Obama announced that KSM (and possibly several others) would be tried in a federal court under normal civilian court procedures (read the NY Times story here).

Many were opposed to having KSM and other 9/11 terrorists stand trial just blocks from the former location of the World Trade Center. Sources indicate it would be unnecessarily expensive, and they did not know if court officials and NYPD could secure a location in lower Manhattan, where the trial was set to take place.

However, despite Obama's attempts to have KSM tried in civilian court, several key Senators may have found a way to stop it. On February 2, Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] and at least 20 co-sponsors introduced a bill to prevent these terrorists from seeing a federal court on U.S. soil. S.2977 has an ambitious goal of blocking the use of any federal funds appropriated for the Department of Justice for civilian trials of the alleged 9/11 conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind himself.

This bill is still very new, as it was introduced less than 24 hours ago. It is slowly gaining popularity as the American public is becoming aware of its existence. Sites like opencongress.org are slowly beginning to indicate that a bill like this is favored by the American public.

Currently, the bill has 23 sponsors and co-sponsors, from both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately for those of us who support this bill, it is currently sitting in the Senate's Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]. Leahy has gone on record in at least one occasion indicating that he is strongly opposed to S.2977

This bill could be stalled in the Senate's judiciary committee, so we need as much support as we can for this bill. The people who have the most say on this bill are the members of the Senate's Committee on the Judicary (click here). Luckily, the bill's original author (Graham) also holds a seat on the Judiciary Committee. With your support, and a little bit of luck, this bill can be brought to consideration by the Senate floor.