2 Rasmussen Polls: NY and US on Terror Trials

Also see this poll with a similar but slightly different question:
Poll: Most Americans want military trial for 9/11 suspects
http://rawstory.com/2009/11/poll-americans-military-trial-911-suspects/

Scroll down for the 2nd poll. Visit originals for hyperlinks. Posted in full for posterity - loose nuke

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_state_surveys/new_york/55_in_new_york_oppose_civilian_terr...
55% in New York Oppose Civilian Terror Trials
Friday, November 20, 2009

Just 35% of New York State voters agree with Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try the confessed mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and five other suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York City rather than before a military tribunal.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 55% are opposed to that decision, which is part of the Obama administration’s effort to close the terrorist prison camp at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.

But 57% are at least somewhat confident that New York City will be safe and secure during the trials of the terrorism suspects. Twenty-three percent (23%) are very confident.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) are not confident that the city will be safe during the trials, with 26% who are not very confident and 12% who are not at all confident.

Nationally, 51% of voters oppose the decision to try the suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York City.

In New York State, voters under the age of 40 are more supportive of civilian trials for the terrorists than are their elders. Blacks oppose the decision more than whites.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans and 62% of voters not affiliated with either major party in the state disagree with trying the suspected terrorists in a civilian court rather than before a military tribunal. Democrats in New York are almost evenly divided on the question.

Members of the president’s party are also much more confident that the city will be safe and secure while the trials are going on. Thirty-two percent (32%) of Empire State Democrats are very confident, compared to eight percent (8%) of GOP voters and 21% of unaffiliateds.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of male voters are very confident the city will be safe and secure, but just 15% of female voters agree.

Only 18% of voters nationwide feel that the U.S. legal system worries too much about protecting national security.

More than twice as many, 39% now believe that the legal system worries too much about protecting individual rights. A couple of years ago, the number who believed the system worried too much about national security was roughly the same as the number who thought it was too worried about protecting individual rights.

Voter confidence in America’s conduct of the War on Terror has fallen to its lowest level since the first week of January in 2007. Largely unchanged for months is the view by 45% that America is safer today than before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree and say the country is not safer.

President Obama now says the Guantanamo prison camp will not be closed by January as he had planned. The administration is having difficulty finding places to move the terrorist suspects since most Americans are opposed to having them in U.S. prisons.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters now say the president’s performance in the area of national security is good or excellent, down 16 points from the week he took office in January. Forty percent (40%) say he’s doing a poor job in national security.

Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand leads former Governor George Pataki 45% to 42% in a hypothetical 2010 Senate match-up in New York State.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is still out front in New York’s 2010 gubernatorial race.

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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/november_2009/51_oppose_decision_to_try_terrorist...
51% Oppose Decision To Try Terrorists in New York City
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters oppose the Obama administration’s decision to try the confessed chief planner of the 9/11 attacks and other suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York City.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of voters favor the president’s decision not to try the suspects by military tribunal at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba where they are now imprisoned. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure whether it was the right decision or not.

Only 30% of Americans said suspected terrorists should have access to U.S. courts, while 54% favored military tribunals in July 2008, as the first such tribunal got under way at Guantanamo.

Still, 58% of voters now are at least somewhat confident that New York City will be safe and secure while the trials are going on. Yet only 20% are very confident of that fact. Thirty-eight percent (38%) are not very or not at all confident that New York will be safe during this period.

Most voters have consistently opposed moving any of the Guantanamo prisoners to prisons in the United States out of safety concerns.

Voters continue to overwhelmingly oppose giving the terrorist suspects the same legal rights in court as U.S. citizens. Only 14% say the suspects should be given the rights of citizens, but 76% disagree.

The decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and five other suspects in a Lower Manhattan courtroom near the site of the World Trade Center is part of the administration’s plan to shut down the
Guantanamo terrorist prison camp by January. Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters oppose closing that facility, and 48% think it is unlikely it will be closed by January as President Obama has pledged.

When the president announced his decision to close the Guantanamo prison camp just after taking office in January, voters were evenly divided, but public support has been trending away from closing ever since.

While the president believes the prison camp established by his predecessor, George W. Bush, weakened national security, only 30% of Americans agree.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 56% of voters not affiliated with either major political party oppose trying the terrorist detainees in a civilian court. Democrats are more closely divided, with a plurality (46%) in favor of the administration’s decision to treat the cases as criminal matters for trial in a civilian court.

Sixty percent (60%) of the Political Class think the terrorists suspects should be tried in a civilian court, while the identical number (60%) of Mainstream Americans disagree.

The Political Class Index is based on three questions. Political Class voters tend to trust political leaders more than the public at large and are far less skeptical about government. Mainstream voters are skeptical of both big government and big business.

Democrats and unaffiliated voters are much more confident than Republicans that New York City will be safe and secure during the trial of the suspected terrorists.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of all voters say they have followed news stories about the decision to try the suspected terrorists in a civilian court at least somewhat closely. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say they have been following very closely. Only six percent (6%) are not following the news about the decision at all.

Thirty-six percent (36%) of voters agree with Attorney General Eric Holder’s naming of a veteran prosecutor to probe the CIA’s handling of terrorists during the Bush administration, but 49% are opposed to such an investigation.

Voter confidence in America’s conduct of the War on Terror has fallen to its lowest level since the first week of January in 2007. Largely unchanged for months is the view by 45% that America is safer today than before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree and say the country is not safer.

Sixty percent (60%) of voters nationwide say the recent massacre at Fort Hood, Texas should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act rather than by civilian authorities as a criminal act.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of Texas voters say Major Nadal Malik Hasan should receive the death penalty if he is convicted of the shootings at Fort Hood.

Only 16% of voters nationwide say America’s relationship with the Muslim world will be better one year from now, despite the president’s outreach to the global Islamic community. That's the lowest level measured all year.

The fascists

must be delighted by these results.

Goodbye, rule by law. Hello, gulag justice.