Case of detained Muslims illustrates the fruits of fear
Mary Sanchez
The defendants before the U.S. Supreme Court sound like a political “Where are they now?” quiz: former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and former Commissioner James W. Ziglar of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
They are involved in a civil suit, the last arguments of which were heard by the high court before Donald Trump’s inauguration. At issue is whether the plaintiffs — 760 foreign men, mostly Muslim — have standing to sue the former government officials for denying them the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
The case takes new significance now, as Trump has notoriously promised to institute policies with respect to Muslims that are of questionable constitutional legitimacy.
The plaintiffs were rounded up in 2001 in the days and weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks. They were held for about eight months in two detention centers. They were kept in solitary confinement and put through sleep and food deprivation. A government investigation later found that some were slammed up against walls, strip-searched unnecessarily and yelled at with slurs for praying.
Not one of these men ever was charged with terrorism.
It’s worth remembering the shock and fear that followed those terror attacks on U.S. soil. The nation is forever changed for the lives lost that day.
Yet this embarrassing episode — an example of hysteria that led to a clear miscarriage of justice — is as pertinent as ever. We have every reason to believe that our new commander in chief and his intelligence and law-enforcement appointees are liable to repeat this behavior .
We just inaugurated as president man who dogmatically clung to the lie that Muslims in New Jersey were dancing in the streets after terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Trump is not known to back down from his lies and calumnies, yet many of his Cabinet nominees and advisers have tried to distance the administration from talk of creating a database, monitoring mosques and banning immigration of practicing Muslims.
On the other hand, Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, waffled in Senate confirmation hearings when asked about a Muslim registry, saying he needed more information. (Free advice: Check the Constitution.)
The Supreme Court case, brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, turns on the question of whether top officials in the George W. Bush administration bear any personal responsibility, or if they have qualified immunity, for violations of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
An inspector general’s report on the detentions mentioned that some in the administration tried to push back against overreach, but the rational voices were silenced. Hooligans took over.
That’s what happens when fear leads.
Erring on the side of recklessness comes with a high price. It undermines the constitutional rights America values most. It harms our international image. It hands a recruitment tool to terrorists.
We know this now. Time to apply the lesson.