Maybe Frontier Justice Really Wasn’t So Bad

by Ed Mattson

Life is crazy and sometimes our government is insane. Let me get this straight…Major Nidal Hasan, accused assassin of thirteen people and attempted murder of 32 others at Ft. Hood in Killeen, TX is

1. Innocent until proven guilty
2. Still a major in the US Army
3. Still receiving full pay (about $6000/month) while sitting in Bell county jail down in Texas.

Hasan was given an Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury proceeding) in October of 2010 to determine if the death penalty should be applied. In November the case was referred to a general court martial with the authorization to consider the death penalty. So until Hasan gets his day in court, the army, which is providing not one but three attorneys free of charge, will spend about $207,000 to house him in the Bell County jail, spend $30,000 for his special services, supplies, and transportation, an additional $34,500 in “special needs”, and spend $152,000 for around-the-clock guarding, while continuing to keep him on the payroll.

I have no problem with being “innocent until proven guilty”, even though he was shot while committing his violent and pre-meditated acts. I mean it is not like he was just a poor misunderstood slob standing there pulling the trigger “innocently”, and was a victim of a stray bullet fired by law enforcement, but still the courts have to prove him guilty. This happened in November of 2009. The part that should gall every American, particularly disabled veterans waiting around while the VA determines whether or not they are worthy of disability support, is that Hasan has been receiving full pay for the past 20 months, and is getting medical care fit for a king.

Folks, I was not a math major in school, but that looks to be $120,000 being poured down a rat hole on Hasan, and millions more on the legal proceedings, while veterans have to wait and see the fate of their applications for just compensation. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture? We all know that if that were you or me, being enlisted personnel, we would have been stripped of our rank, lost our pay, and probably hidden away until trial in some place resembling the macabre and historic Tower of London. Why is Hasan still on the payroll and still a Major? Why was he not stripped of his rank for actions not becoming of an officer?

In the old days, after all this is Texas, we would have gotten a rope, found a tree, and that would be that! I can think of many other times frontier justice might have been applicable, where we have left the fate of the accused in the hands of twelve, sometimes not-so-bright members of the jury who have watched too much of CSI, Perry Mason, LA Law, and reality TV, and not given a damn about the victim. Do the OJ and the recent Anthony cases ring a bell?

Today juries want to be dazzled by forensic evidence, and see the bazaar and mysterious beautiful eye witness remove all doubt with her testimony, and believe they are smart enough to understand all the psychological gobbled-gook of what created the accused in the first place. People wait in line and rush to get a seat in the courtroo

m to be entertained, not to see justice melted out. Because the prosecution couldn’t pull Bugs Bunny out of the hat, or walk on water, the juries can’t be convinced to be “convinced beyond reasonable doubt” and come back with not-guilty verdicts. Maybe we need some sentence in between, like, “the prosecution couldn’t prove you were guilty but we sure as hell know you are not innocent”; that is a stigma that would stay with them for life.

Getting back to Major Hasan… Since the shooting occurred a lot of investigative reporting has taken place by the military and the media, but the attack he perpetrated should have come as no surprise in the first place. Before coming to Ft. Hood, he was promoted to the rank of major despite reports that his quality of work was substandard and that he occasionally unnerved his colleagues by expressing fervent Islamic views and deep opposition to the U.S. led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So much for political correctness!

Once, while presenting what was supposed to be a medical lecture to other psychiatrists, Hasan instead talked about Islam, and stated that, “non-believers would be sent to hell, decapitated, set on fire, and have burning oil poured down their throats”. Hasan’s lecture also included statements that he “justified suicide bombings.” Associate Duane Reasoner Jr report that Hasan stated that, “you’re not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christian or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.” Do that sound rational to you?

We have to stop thinking everyone who commits a crime is innocent and needs to be released back into society; I mean the Veterans Administration doesn’t work that way. We have to prove we are victims of a situation of some government malfeasance in order to qualify for benefits like disability compensation or coverage under the Agent Orange Act, when we apply for benefits. We sure as heck aren’t “innocent until proven guilty”.

It is a sad state of affairs when Major Nadal Hasan , a coward at best, who shoots innocent men women and children, in his deranged thought that he is going to receive 72 virgins when he gets to heaven; be paid a tidy $6000/month while sitting on his butt in jail, receives taxpayer funded attorneys, eat three squares a day, afforded the best medical care money can buy, is housed, not in the brig but at a county facility with cable TV, while the veteran is left out in the cold.

Ed Mattson

Following his service in the Marine Corps Ed Mattson built a diverse career in business in both sales/marketing and management. He is a medical research specialist and published author. His latest book is Down on Main Street: Searching for American Exceptionalism

Ed is currently Development Director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program, Fundraising Coordinator for the Warrior2Citizen Project, and Managing Partner of Center-Point Consultants in North Carolina.

Mr. Mattson is a noted speaker and has addressed more than 3000 audiences in 42 states and 5 foreign countries. He has been awarded the Order of the Sword by American Cancer Society, is a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow and appeared on more than 15 radio and television talk-shows.