Way OT: Fort Hood

[Oren]

Not if it is Christmas music every day. BTDT

Have court papers to prove it .....

[norminn]

Civil or criminal?

[Doug Brown]

Is Hasan a terrorist or is he simply (OK, not really simple) a traitor?

What is the punishment due a traitor in time of war?

[Doug Brown]

You were there to hear him?

Or are you relying upon dozens, hundreds or thousands of translations performed by folks who had their own agenda?

[Doug Miller]

The same as the (maximum) punishment for murder -- so whether he's a terrorist, or a traitor, or whatever, is not relevant. He committed murder, and can be executed.

[trader4]

I learned recently of how the patron saint of liberals, Franklin Roosevelt dealt with some folks. Seems back in 42, a couple of guys were found coming ashore in the USA and burying money, supplies, etc. In a few weeks the FBI had rounded up a gang of around 8 as I recall. They were apparently plotting to do sabotage in support of Germany. Two were US citizens, the rest were Germans.

There is a long trail of messages back and forth between FDR and his attorney general, where FDR actively managed the whole affair and made it clear that he wanted to make sure this was dealt with quickly and NOT by a civilian court. At times, his AG even protested that they didn't really have a complete case for espionage. He likened the evidence they did have to that of someone who had gone out and merely bought a gun and argued that alone was not sufficient to prove attempted murder. FDR responded that if anything, they deserved to be paraded around the country in a circus like fashion for all to see before being promptly convicted.

Within a couple months, they were brought before a military tribunal and received the death sentence. FDR commuted the death sentence to terms of 30 years for a couple of them, because they had cooperated and turned in the others. Within about 3 months from the time they came ashore, the executions were carried out.

[Oren]

Civil. It's not criminal to play Christmas music.

[HeyBub]

I disagree. First, a definition: "Homicide" is the killing of one human by another." There are several kinds of homicide (manslaughter, justifiable, excusable, murder, etc.). Of "murder," there are also several kinds recognized by the legal codes:

Murder - killing another with premeditation Captial Murder - killing of a police officer or while in the commission of kidnapping, armed robbery, for hire, etc. Hate Crime Murder - killing because the victim belonged to a protected class

So, even under the law, there are several kinds of murder depending on the mental state of the killer. If the statutes can recognize varying kinds of murder, the general population can harken to their own, shorthand, definitions.