American justice extends to all

On Memorial Day weekend, there was much honoring men and women who died to protect our freedom. But I wonder what freedoms we are willing to protect as our new president seems intent on denying freedom to those illegally detained in Guantanamo and other American-run prisons.

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, those who are willing to trade some of their freedom for some security are entitled to neither. Those two hundred men held at Guantanamo deserve the full measure of American justice, not tyrannical detention. They should be charged with whatever crime they are supposed to have committed, tried in an American civil court, sentenced or acquitted, and either imprisoned or released.

That is American justice. Anything else would be the actions of a nation without law. Holding or detaining anyone without accusation or trial is tyranny. When I was a teacher of Social Studies a decade ago, I would pose the question to my students, "If a majority of brown-eyed people passed a law that blue-eyed people are criminals, would it be legal?"

The answer is yes, it is legal.

But, our Constitution protects us from this tyranny of the majority. We have a Bill of Rights to protect the minority. Even if it is only 200 people.

And, if we claim the moral leadership of the world, it does not matter if they are not American citizens. They deserve the full measure of American justice. Not the full measure of American cowardice.

Herb Best

Streamwood