Do members of al-Qaeda have constitutional rights?
The Justice Department says that captured Al Qaeda terrorists are entitled to rights under the “due process” clause of the Constitution. Laura was joined by criminal defense attorney Steven Clark, who agreed with that assessment. “If we’re going to give them a trial,” Clark maintained, “we have to give them procedural safeguards. And if we’re going to use somebody’s confession, we have to make sure it wasn’t coerced. They have the right to counsel and a fair trial.” But Laura argued that foreign detainees are not protected by the Constitution. “These are not criminals, they are enemy combatants who we captured on the battlefield. If one of these Gitmo inmates gets off because the information that was obtained is considered ‘involuntary’ and then goes back and kills a U.S.
