No Due Process

Not long ago the Korea Herald published a letter extolling the virtues of American justice as applied in the case of the two American soldiers who drove a military track vehicle over two Korean middle school girls, killing them. In comparing the American and Korean systems of justice, the writer suggested circumspectly that the American system, being more objective due to its emphasis on process, is superior. The premise of the argument was that if the judicial processes developed over time through planning and trial and error are followed, Americans see justice as having been done, without particular regard to the outcome, whereas Koreans first posit that damage has occurred and base their judgment of whether or not justice has been done on whether or not some reparation has been made. While not stated explicitly, the upshot of this is that Americans presume innocence and Koreans presume guilt. I agreed in many ways with the writer’s take on the American system, since it appeared to emphasize the role of the constitution and the rule of law but, having almost no knowledge the Korean legal system, I was skeptical of his conclusions, especially given the letter’s evident nationalist tinges, so it was with interest that I read another writer’s well-written and thoughtful, though overly emotional response which the paper published not long afterward.

Now, a few months later, the original, presumably American writer’s letter seems almost laughable in the face American policy. Where is the supposed regard for process, or, if you like, ‘due process’? I, an American (surprise!), have read some things that scare the Orwell out of me.

Using a predator drone, the United States military launched a missile that destroyed a carload of terrorists in Afghanistan. Fine. War on terrorism, etc. Maybe, if we try really hard, we can overlook the fact that we, the general public, have no way of knowing whether the people (PEOPLE) in the car were terrorists or wedding party-goers. It turns out, though, that an American citizen was killed in that very same car. In the same article in which I read of this high-tech car bombing, information cited as coming from the Bush administration stated that there was no constitutional issue surrounding the murder of this American. Why not? Because he was an enemy combatant. Therefore, apparently, he was not eligible for, did not deserve, the constitutional protection, the presumption of innocence, guaranteed by the United States Constitution—the same presumption of innocence afforded the American soldiers who ran over two Korean girls on a country road.