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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., December 6, 2001 - As Attorney General John Ashcroft testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the war on terrorism and President Bush's controversial order to use military tribunals for terrorism suspects, FindLaw is providing critical analysis and historical perspective on the issue of military tribunals from nationally recognized legal scholars.

The web site features authoritative essays from leading experts with diverse analysis and viewpoints. Analytical pieces that may be helpful for analysis, background and perspective include:

JOHN DEAN
THE CRITICS ARE WRONG: WHY PRESIDENT BUSH'S DECISION TO BRING FOREIGN TERRORISTS TO JUSTICE BEFORE MILITARY TRIBUNALS SHOULD NOT OFFEND CIVIL LIBERTARIANS
FindLaw columnist and former Counsel to the President John Dean responds to critics who have claimed President Bush's recent executive order allowing foreign terrorists to be tried before military tribunals, not civil juries, is a serious infringement of civil liberties. Surveying legal and historical precedents, Dean contends that President Bush's measure is appropriate given that we are at war, and that the accusation that the tribunals will be kangaroo courts is both inaccurate and unfair.
John W. Dean is a former Counsel to the President of the United States
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20011123.html

MARCI HAMILTON
LIBERALS' HYPOCRISY OVER MILITARY TRIBUNALS: WHY THE LIBERALS WHO FOUGHT FOR DISCRETION DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SHOULD CONTINUE TO SUPPORT IT NOWFindLaw columnist and Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton offers a new perspective on the controversy: that it is hypocritical for liberals who, in the past, have favored wide executive discretion with respect to the environment and other policy areas, to now oppose the exercise of executive discretion to create the tribunals when the need for discretion in wartime is particularly great.
Professor Marci A. Hamilton holds the Thomas H. Lee Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University and is an internationally recognized expert on constitutional law.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20011206.html

JOEL B. GROSSMAN
CARELESS WITH THE CONSTITUTION? THE PROBLEM WITH MILITARY TRIBUNALS
Johns Hopkins political science professor and constitutional law scholar Joel Grossman examines possible sources of authority for the Executive Order, and considers the larger question of whether the Supreme Court should get involved in presidential actions during wartime.
Joel Grossman is professor of political science and teaches about American Constitutional law at Johns Hopkins University.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20011129_grossman.html

JOANNE MARINER
O.J. AND OSAMA: THE FEAR OF A HIGHLY PUBLICIZED BIN LADEN TRIAL, AND THE PROBLEM WITH MILITARY COMMISSIONS
Human rights attorney Joanne Mariner examines Attorney General Ashcroft's comparison of a possible trial of Osama bin Laden to the trial of O.J. Simpson, and contends that the fear of a Simpson-like proceeding does not justify abridging due process. Mariner also notes the cost, in terms of international opinion, of affording suspected terrorists military proceedings rather than civil trials.
Joanne Mariner is deputy director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20011126.html

All legal columns related to the government's efforts against terrorism can be found at: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/terrorism2.html

President Bush's executive order authorizing the use of military tribunals can be found at: http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/bushtribunalord111301.html

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