Article of Interest: 9/​11 Victim’s Daughter Writes Why She Supports Plea Deals for Perpetrators

In a Washington Post op-ed, Chanel Shum, a member of September 11^th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, explains her support of plea agreements that would end decades of legal uncertainty and sentence three of the accused 9/11 defendants to life without parole. Ms. Shum was starting preschool when her father, See Wong Shum, was killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Describing her first time attending hearings at Guantánamo Bay, she writes, “Like many, I assumed that justice had been served long ago. Instead, I confronted a reality tangled in legal red tape, endless delays and violations of the rule of law.” Sitting behind bulletproof glass to witness legal proceedings against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, she says, “I thought about how my family’s life had been changed forever. And yet, I felt uncomfortable with a justice system that allowed years of indefinite detention without trial, which I saw as antithetical to both the rule of law and my core values.” 

“Although 9/11 family members are a large group with divergent views, we can all agree that the case has taken far too long,” Ms. Shum writes. “Plea agreements will guarantee irreversible sentences for each of the detainees before 2026, as opposed to a trial, which could add years of appeals and still ultimately be overturned in federal court.” She says that the plea deals, which are currently in legal limbo, would bring finality to families like hers.