Bombing suspect's arrest poses problem for the U.S.

If Eric Robert Rudolph, the Olympic Park bombing suspect, is a terrorist -- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has characterized him as such -- you could expect the Justice Department to lock him up in some secret location without access to a lawyer until he is ready to talk. That, after all, is the procedure the Bush administration is using with suspects in the war on global terrorism.
Yet, Rudolph already has had one court appearance, and the attorney general said Monday the accused will face trial first in Birmingham, Ala., where an abortion clinic was bombed in 1998, and then in Atlanta, site of the 1996 Olympic bombing and other blasts linked to him.
Is there a double standard at work here?
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania by individuals linked to the Al-Qaida terror network, the Bush administration has made it clear that extraordinary times demand extraordinary action. Thus, the Justice Department has shown no reluctance in setting aside due process, habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence and the like. Indeed, individuals -- mostly of Arab heritage -- have been held in U.S. prisons without being able to talk to a lawyer.
The administration has denied that this effort is racially motivated and has argued, to the satisfaction of a large number of Americans, that such measures are necessary in order to uncover the Islamic terrorist cells that exist in this country.
But as we have pointed out on many occasions, the protections offered by the Constitution of the United States are sacred and must not be cast aside by an overzealous attorney general and justice department.
As the Philadelphia Inquirer said in a recent editorial, "In this tradition [of American justice], care and fairness in the pursuit of justice replace a rush to bloody vengeance. Punishment, when deserved, is delivered -- but only after it is clear that is merited."
Rights of the suspect
We are pleased that in the case of Rudolph, the federal government is properly protecting the suspect's constitutional rights, and that he will be given his day in court. That's how it should be -- even for a terrorist.
Shortly after Rudolph's capture early Saturday in Murphy, N.C., after being on the run for more than five years, Attorney General Ashcroft issued the following statement: "This sends a clear message that we will never cease in our efforts to hunt down all terrorists, foreign or domestic, and stop them from harming the innocent."
To further establish Rudolph's terrorist credentials, consider that in addition to the Olympic Park and Birmingham bombings, he is accused of 1997 bombings in Atlanta outside a gay nightclub and an office building that housed an abortion clinic. Two people were killed and 150 injured in the four attacks.
Law enforcement officials believe that Rudolph received aid, comfort and a safe haven during the years he spent in the Appalachian wilderness. Does the federal government have an obligation to identify these accessories and bring them to justice? Yes, it does. But what it should not do -- and in all likelihood will not do -- is put the squeeze on Rudolph. That's what the Justice Department has been doing in trying to glean information from those suspected of having ties to Al-Qaida.
In its treatment of Rudolph, the Bush administration is showing that American justice can work without having to resort to the procedures common in countries run by despots. But that poses a problem for the government as it continues to deprive other detainees their day in court.