There's interesting developments in the law regarding the part about not being mirandized but tried in a US court. Lawful combatants are not criminals, although they can be responsible for criminal acts. Even where they have committed no crimes, they can be held indefinitely until a cessation of hostilities with whomever they were fighting for. That's been true for a long time and remains true. In contrast to lawful combatants, unlawful combatants are criminals. Prior to this, the US never had a conflict that might go on for a hundred years, essentially making combatant detainment a life sentence, so the process used to determine who was a lawful or unlawful combatant wasn't particularly important.
The Supreme Court has been careful to point out that it doesn't think every person taken on a battlefield has a right to a trial, but people detained for 6+ years do have some due process right to ensure that they have been classified correctly (lawful, unlawful / combatant, non-combatant). The process used to make that determination does not have to be as complete as a full-blown civil trial procedure.
If Osama Bin Laden is properly an unlawful combatant, he's a criminal, and can be tried for crimes in addition to being detained indefinitely until hostilities with al qaeda cease. It's not clear to me that he has to be mirandized prior to whatever military process he's subjected to prior to being taken back to the US and formally charged with crimes. I do not know where military seizure ends and police arrest begins where the detainee is first taken on foreign soil, is not a US citizen, is determined to be an unlawful combatant, and then shipped to the US.
The Supreme Court has been careful to point out that it doesn't think every person taken on a battlefield has a right to a trial, but people detained for 6+ years do have some due process right to ensure that they have been classified correctly (lawful, unlawful / combatant, non-combatant). The process used to make that determination does not have to be as complete as a full-blown civil trial procedure.
If Osama Bin Laden is properly an unlawful combatant, he's a criminal, and can be tried for crimes in addition to being detained indefinitely until hostilities with al qaeda cease. It's not clear to me that he has to be mirandized prior to whatever military process he's subjected to prior to being taken back to the US and formally charged with crimes. I do not know where military seizure ends and police arrest begins where the detainee is first taken on foreign soil, is not a US citizen, is determined to be an unlawful combatant, and then shipped to the US.
