What An Idiot

John Amato at Crooks and Liars noted this: Huckabee: Gitmo is too nice

“The inmates there were getting a whole lot better treatment than my prisoners in Arkansas. In fact, we left saying, ‘I hope our guys don’t see this. They’ll all want to be transferred to Guantanmo. If anything, it’s too nice.”

Where to begin? I don’t guess that Mr. Huckabee is aware that the inmates in the Arkansas prison system are actually convicted criminals. Their habeas corpus rights were observed at an arraignment; they were represented by an attorney; they received a speedy trial; they saw the evidence used against them; they confronted their accusers; and all of the other rights guaranteed by the Constitution in the Bill of Rights were observed by the state of Arkansas before they were locked up for specified sentences.

Even with all of that the former governor felt that some, like Wayne Dumond, were treated unfairly, but they were eligible for pardon, parole, or clemency.

The majority of the people who have been placed in Guantanamo were there years before the possibility that they might be innocent was even considered, or that they should have attorneys. They were denied habeas corpus; they are prevented from seeing the evidence or witnesses against them; there is no timeline for the beginning or ending of any procedure. They are effectively being held based on lettres de cachet and Star Chamber procedures. The “inmates” at Guantanamo have been struggling for years for the rights of the prisoners in the Arkansas prison, and if offered the choice would be more than happy to switch places.

The military tribunals, which are just starting to occur, are effectively a replacement for an arraignment that normally takes place within hours of a criminal arrest.

It would be nice if someone running for the Presidency of the United States had some minimum knowledge of the legal system in the country.