Federal court, not the military, should get terrorism cases

The call by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to detain and interrogate two men arrested in Kentucky and accused of supporting Iraqi insurgents was wrong, legally and practically [“The right place to try terrorists,” op-ed, June 22].

The best way to obtain intelligence and achieve justice is through the federal courts, where hundreds of suspected terrorists have been prosecuted successfully and valuable information about terrorist networks and activities secured by law enforcement in the process. The federal courts unquestionably have jurisdiction over charges against the men of conspiracy and material support — unlike the Guantanamo military commissions, in which the designation of these charges as war crimes is improper and rightly contested.

Guantanamo stands for nearly a decade of failure to comply with the rule of law and live up to our country’s commitment to fairness and justice. We look to political leaders to further American values, not to perpetuate policies that fly in the face of them.

Laura Murphy, Washington

and Hina Shamsi, New York

The writers are, respectively, Washington legislative office director and national security project director at the American Civil Liberties Union.