“Time for military justice” & “Graham says it's time for new rules on handling enemy combatants”

United States Senator Lindsey Graham and Nexsen Pruet attorney Billy Wilkins held joint news conference at Nexsen Pruet's Greenville office on Monday, February 15th, 2010.

Following the news conference, Charleston’s The Post and Courier published an editorial entitled “Time for military justice.”

It begins:

Nearly seven years after capturing self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, America still hasn't brought him to trial. Nearly eight and a half years after the Twin Towers fell, America still hasn't developed a coherent policy on the status of such fanatical enemies in our custody. It is far past time to end our legal confusion and minimize our terror risks by passing federal legislation to clarify what rights terror suspects do -- and do not -- have.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to do just that with a bill to create "a new judicial capacity." He makes a convincing case that the military justice system is the right venue for nearly all terror suspects....

Read more from The Post and Courier…

Meanwhile, The Greenville News reported on the news conference in an article entitled “Graham says it's time for new rules on handling enemy combatants.”   Senator Graham called the news conference as debate grows in Washington and elsewhere about how to handle terrorism cases.

Wilkins, who is former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,  told reporters that civilian courts are capable of handling the cases, but they should not have to.  “It's unfair to put innocent men and women who happen to work for the federal system at risk by trying these terrorists in civilian courts when they can be held just as fairly, and much more efficiently, by military tribunal,” said Wilkins.

Billy Wilkins leads Nexsen Pruet’s White-Collar Crime, Appellate Advocacy, and Corporate Compliance/Crisis Management practice groups and actively participates in the firm’s Business Litigation Group.