A warning from Judge Andrew Napolitano: if the government had the option to determine if a resident should be given their rights, “it would always take away constitutional rights because prosecution without constitutional rights is a breeze!”
In a radio interview on The Tom Shillue Show, Napolitano explained why the suspect arrested after the Oct. 31 terrorist attack in New York City has the same protections under the Constitution as U.S. citizens.
“It is not ok with the Constitution for the president or someone in government to decide ‘you don’t have constitutional rights, we’re sending you to Gitmo.”
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The suspect, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, is from Uzbekistan and has been in the U.S. legally since 2010. Some have called for him to be treated as an enemy combatant, which means he would not be afforded the same rights as U.S. citizens and would be tried in military court, instead.
“I want to send him to Gitmo,” Tom Shullie told Napolitano. “I don’t want him Mirandized. Why am I wrong?”
Napolitano said that
The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Amendments do not limit due process rights to “citizens.” These procedural rights apply to “persons” within U.S. jurisdiction.
“I was very dismayed when the president of the United States today referred to federal prosecutions as ‘a joke,’” he added. “Federal prosecutions in a federal court with a jury in lower Manhattan where the prosecuting team is the joint terror task force…has a perfect 1,000 batting average. These trials are swift, they are complete, they are thorough, and they are fair.”
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