LIEBERMAN’S TENUOUS UNDERSTANDING OF DUE PROCESS…. Faisal Shahzad, the apparent terrorist behind Saturday’s failed car-bombing in Times Square, is an American citizen who committed a crime on American soil. As such, it hardly comes as a surprise that he’s being subjected to the American criminal-justice system.
Joe Lieberman has a plan to change all of that.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is planning to introduce a bill that would allow the government to take away citizenship from Americans who join foreign terrorist organizations.
The proposal would amend current law that bars American citizens from fighting for foreign armies at the price of losing their citizenship.
“I think it’s time for us to look at whether we want to amend that law to apply it to American citizens who choose to become affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations, whether they should not also be deprived automatically of their citizenship and therefore be deprived of rights that come with that citizenship when they are apprehended and charged with a terrorist act,” Lieberman, who helms the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said on Fox News.
Note, Lieberman wasn’t just popping off on Fox News; he’s actually moving forward with this as a legislative proposal. Indeed, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has expressed GOP support for the effort.
I’m at a loss as to understand how this could possibly work. If an American citizen is accused of terrorist associations, he/she would lose citizenship status before a conviction? In Lieberman’s vision, the defendant is punished and then gets due process? What if authorities make a mistake and accuse someone who’s innocent? Would officials eventually give citizenship back with an “Oops, Our Bad” card?
Senator, Yale Law School called. It wants your diploma back.
