Op-Ed: Opposing Terror Trials in New York

(Editor's Note: The following is an open letter from Robert Germino to New York State Assemblyman Charles Lavine. Germino is running against Lavine for the 13th District Assembly seat, which includes portions of Syosset and Woodbury.)

Dear Assemblyman Lavine:

As an Iraq veteran, I strongly oppose your support for trying "our common enemy" as common criminals. Since you wrote your op-ed in Newsday on Nov. 18, 2009, Mayor Bloomberg, Sen. Schumer and Rep. King emphatically opposed terror trials in Manhattan; New York City faced numerous terrorist threats; and the families of 9/11 victims expressed their outrage. 

I agree with you that we have the "strength" for terror trials–our brave men and women who defend America demonstrate this daily; however, we also have the wisdom to learn from past experiences. Fadil Abdelghani, your former client, and Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman share the same ideology of those who call for our destruction. An appeals court recently upheld the conviction of Lynne Stewart, who represented Rahman, for smuggling messages to her jailed terrorist client.  Should we take the same risk with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? 

In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered military tribunals for eight Nazi terrorists captured off the coast of Long Island. The Supreme Court upheld President Roosevelt's decision to try the Nazis as enemy combatants in Ex parte Quirin. Why didn't you mention this in your op-ed? 

I urge you to join our other New York elected officials in opposing terror trials in Manhattan. Please consider that at this time New Yorkers should not endure the financial (estimated at more than $200 million per year) and emotional burden of this trial. 

Respectfully submitted,
 
Robert A. Germino