These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
44% Say Terrorist Trials Should Be Held at Guantanamo, 33% Disagree
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Obama administration is moving a planned terrorist trial out of New York City because of growing public opposition, and 44% of U.S. voters say the trials of all suspected terrorists linked to 9/11 should be held at Guantanamo Bay.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 33% oppose holding those trials at the naval base in Cuba where many suspected terrorists have been imprisoned for the past several years. Another 23% are undecided.
Voters believe much more strongly that Guantanamo Bay prisoners should be tried in a military tribunal rather than a civilian court. Sixty-seven percent (67%) favor the military tribunal route, and just 15% are opposed. But 18% aren't sure.
This sentiment appears to have grown even stronger. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans favored military tribunals in July 2008 , as the first such tribunal got under way at Guantanamo. Thirty percent (30%) of Americans said suspected terrorists should have access to U.S. courts.
Regardless of where and how the trials take place, voters continue to strongly oppose giving suspected terrorists all the rights of U.S. citizens. Just 16% think the suspects should have the legal rights of American citizens, but 74% reject that idea.
This finding has been consistent for several years and is comparable to those in a survey in early November , following the administration's decision to try the suspected 9/11 kingpin in a New York City civilian courtroom. At that time, 51% of voters opposed that decision, while 29% approved of it.
New Yorkers opposed holding the trial locally even more strongly, and their growing security concerns ultimately led to the decision to move the trial out of New York City.
While the administration looks for another place to hold the trial of the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, 37% of voters oppose trying suspects linked to 9/11 anywhere within the continental United States. However, 49% disagree and say those terrorist trials should be held in the United States. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of Mainstream voters favor holding the terrorist trials at Guantanamo Bay, but 84% of the Political Class are opposed.
Similarly, while 76% of Mainstream voters think Guantanamo prisoners should be tried in a military tribunal, just 36% of the Political Class agree.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of male voters say the terrorist trials should be held at Guantanamo Bay, but women voters are evenly divided on the question. Men also believe much more strongly than women that the Guantanamo prisoners should face a military tribunal. Both groups agree by sizable majorities, though, that the terrorists suspects should not be given the legal rights of U.S. citizens.
Two-thirds (66%) of Republicans and a plurality (48%) of voters not affiliated with either major party support holding the terrorist trials in Cuba. Fifty percent (50%) of Democrats disagree, and 68% of the president's party say the trials of suspects linked to 9/11 should be held in the continental United States.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror. That's the third time in four Rasmussen Reports tracking surveys that confidence has been below 40%. Numbers that bleak haven't been recorded in consecutive surveys since the middle of 2007.
Only 36% of voters say the United States is safer today than it was before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , marking the lowest level of confidence since Rasmussen polling first asked the question in 2002.
The findings follow a Christmas Day terrorist bombing attempt on a U.S. airliner and the massacre of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas in early November by a Muslim U.S. Army officer with suspected terrorist ties.
In early January, 77% said another terrorist attack in the United States is at least somewhat likely in the next year.
That was a 28-point jump from the end of August when just 49% of Americans felt that way.