Keeping terrorists out of CT

Rob Simmons has let us know how scared we should be of letting terrorists into a Connecticut courtroom and vows they will be tried on the sacred soil of the Nutmeg State over his dead body or better yet, Chris Dodd's.

You probably thought the trial of Khalid Shiek Mohammed, the admitted architect of the 9/11 attacks, and four others, was going to be held in Manhattan. It probably is, but there's a chance it could be moved somewhere else and if somewhere else turns out to be here, it will be Dodd's fault, says his "moderate Republican" opponent, Simmons.

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try Mohammed in a Manhattan federal court could be altered if Mohammed's attorneys seek a change of venue on the grounds that it would be difficult for the four to get a fair trial just blocks from the scene of the atrocity. If the judge agrees, he could move the trial to another New York location or to Connecticut or Vermont, which are also in the U.S. Court of Appeals Second District.

"A trial for Khalid Sheik Mohammed on American soil was bad enough but the attorney general's admission that the venue could be changed to Connecticut is a truly alarming prospect," said the truly alarmed Simmons. "Such a dangerous move would create, as the attorney general states, 'very real security concerns,' and place a heavy burden on our state."

So how does Sen. Dodd figure in all of this, except for occupying the Senate seat Simmons would like to call his own?

On Nov. 5, Dodd voted with 53 other senators to table an amendment that would have barred those involved in 9/11 from being tried in U.S. courts and that was enough for Simmons to brand him a conspirator in an imagined plan to bring the terrorists to Connecticut. Connecticut's junior senator, Joe Lieberman, voted with the other side, but that's another story.

"Now Sen. Dodd's reckless vote against barring such trials from taking place could come home to roost for Connecticut," a Simmons press release ranted. "I call on Dodd to join me in condemning the attorney general's decision to move the trial to American soil and do everything in his power to prevent the self-described mastermind of the worst attack on America from ever setting foot in a Connecticut courtroom."

Since the early 1990s, more than 500 terrorists have been brought to trial on American soil and nearly every trial has ended with a conviction. Two former Bush administration Justice Department officials, Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith, pointed out last week that Bush used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including some notables like "Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a super max prison in Colorado, never to be seen again."

Comey and Goldsmith wrote in The Washington Post that "federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant's ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom."

The Sixth Amendment says criminal prosecutions are to be conducted "in the state or district wherein the crime shall have been committed" and does not provide exemptions for security reasons or out of a desire to keep terrorists out of any state or district. Connecticut is in the district wherein the crime of 9/11 was committed and there is no legal or moral reason to "prevent the self-described mastermind of the worst attack on America from ever setting foot in a Connecticut courtroom" if that is the judge's decision.

Simmons has to appeal to the conservative base of his party to get the nomination. That's understood. But he would be advised not to run as if he were looking to be the senator from South Carolina or Mississippi if he hopes to appeal to the more thoughtful voters in this blue state who may be disenchanted with Dodd but are also looking for a successor who won't be an embarrassment.

Dick Ahles is a retired journalist from Simsbury.