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Originally Posted by Seaver
My question is why? Some are Prisoners of War... at NO time EVER did PoW's get a trial. Those that arent fall under the rule of Traitors or Sabateurs, at NO time did they ever get trials, they were simply shot or hanged (being non-Citizens). Name a war when we did and I'd be amazed.
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Prisoners of war never get trials because they haven't committed crimes. You don't get prisoner of war status if you're doing illegal things.
As far as traitors and saboteurs, citizens and non-citizens alike have sometimes received trials. I refer you to the following Supreme Court decisions related to the subject:
Ex Parte Milligan (1860's sometime)
Ex Parte Merryman (1860's)
Johnson v. Eisentrager (1950's, spelling is a little off)
Ex Parte Quirin (1950's, again with the spelling)
These three cases nicely summarize the history of trials being (or not) given to traitors and saboteurs. The first two deal with American citizens, Quirin with both, and Johnson with foreigners exclusively.