EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGThe President Should Not Have a License to Kill
The administration claims that the “war” on drugs justifies extrajudicial killing. But redefining civilian drug criminals as “combatants” gives away the reality: the government just militarized what was a low-level criminal law enforcement incident outside the United States. Once we consider the victims’ alleged illegal actions, we can see that the government committed the most egregious crime here.
President Trump once quipped, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Well, he wasn’t standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue, but he nonetheless tested the limits of his ability to get away with extrajudicial execution on September 2 by ordering the deaths of eleven people in an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela. Trump’s action was criminal and impeachable.
The administration claims that this is a “war” on drugs, which supposedly justifies extrajudicial killing. But redefining civilian drug criminals as “combatants” gives away the reality: the government just militarized what was a low-level criminal law enforcement incident outside the United States.
Once we consider the victims’ alleged illegal actions, we can see that the government committed the most egregious crime here.
1.Drug smuggling is not a capital crime. Even if we suppose the victims were guilty, they did not deserve fiery incineration. That’s not just the moral view. That’s the view of US law. People—citizens or noncitizens—who possess illegal drugs cannot legally be executed even after being convicted after a trial. People who possess drugs cannot be shot by law enforcement because drug possession is a nonviolent offense for which the penalty is incarceration for a period determined by a judge. Also, a federal appeals court recently found that drug smuggling does not constitute an “invasion” that would justify a military response. When police kill criminal suspects who are not actively threatening violence against others, it is murder. Ask former officer Derek Chauvin, who asphyxiated George Floyd.
· Even Trump admits that drug crimes are not worthy of death. He has pardoned drug traffickers and kingpins—even some with violent histories—and signed a law that permitted early release for drug offenders during his first term.
2.No government should be trusted to kill criminal suspects in any context. People accused of crimes should be arrested and tried in a court of law. Free societies give due process to the worst criminals, even mass murderers. A policy whereby presidents can bomb foreigners by saying they are drug dealers will cause the deaths of completely innocent people, even if the people in this case are drug dealers. The fact that police so often raidinnocent homeowners looking for drugs cautions against a kill-first policy–and that’s inside the US with judge-approved warrants supported by probable cause.
