The Unintended Consequences of the Terrorist Trials in New York

President Obama's decision to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) and four other Islamic terrorists to New York City for trial is hard to fathom. I will not argue the wisdom of bringing a self-proclaimed terrorist onto American soil mere days after the Ft. Hood terrorism incident; many others have done that. But, the unintended consequences for federal, state and local government workers has not yet been discussed. Regardless of the trial's outcome, security, facilities and procedural requirements will put government workers through a financial, labor-intensive, emotional wringer.

Intensive security demands will tax federal employees, federal facilities, and will be the most rigorous 24x7 exercise yet to unfold in New York. The prisoners will need to be protected from rightfully angry citizens who lost family members or friends in the 9/11 attack. U.S. citizens will need to be protected in the event that other hidden jihadist cells in the U.S. decide to "break out" Mohammed or make a violent, public statement.

Implementing the President's decision will require an unprecedented effort from law enforcement officials, especially DHS, FBI and US Marshals, to work round the clock to provide the appropriate security, which will require huge numbers of federal officers.

New York (state and city) law enforcement officers will be able to help with the burden, but the state and the city will expect compensation from the federal government to provide this level of support. Moreover, since these security efforts will use existing personnel, expect tens of thousands of hours in overtime pay.

Overtime requirements may make union leaders happy since compensation negotiations will undoubtedly ensue but this requirement comes at a time when federal, state and local law enforcement budgets are already strained and will likely require a huge infusion of funding to be transferred from the federal government to the state of New York.

Our federal court system will also have to bear the unintended consequences of this decision. Can prosecutors find any citizen in the United States, much less in the city of New York, who does not have a pre-defined and pretty passionate belief in the innocence or guilt of these self-proclaimed terrorists? Are our federal court facilities, physically, up to the trial requirements?

When I served as the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), one of the agency's ongoing efforts was to upgrade federal courthouse facilities with particular emphasis placed on the courts' holding pens and cells, as well as the concealed access routes that the U.S. Marshals must utilize in order to deliver prisoners safely to each courtroom.

The U.S. Marshals and the federal judges provided critical recommendations to GSA for existing facilities improvement and new construction. But, many of the older courthouses are still not completed. Currently, there are few courthouses in New York City with the kind of world-class, updated facilities that will allow the U.S. Marshals the level of security required to protect the prisoners in the conveyance process.

Federal judges face heightened security risks during contentious trials. The unfortunate murders of several judges have caused federal court security to undergo dramatic changes over the past few years. As a result, you can expect that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOC), which is part of the judicial branch, will demand additional measures to protect the federal judges and legal staff that will be involved.

At the time of 9/11, federal workers were housed in the Twin Towers. There will also be unintended consequence to federal workers regarding the soon-to-be-completed Twin Tower replacement, the Freedom Tower, which has been the subject of intense negotiations with the state of New York and the several federal agencies to be housed in the facility.

As the former Administrator of the federal agency handling these negotiations, let me tell you - they're tough. Negotiations have spanned several years and just the cost of implementing the security design requirements necessary for federal agencies to agree to be re-housed in the Freedom Towers is upward of several hundred-million of taxpayer dollars.

Now, the requirements of "discovery" in preparation for Mohammed's trial might mean that the defense attorneys will request access to the site. Just consider: a still-being-constructed building, an iconic site, not fully secured, being explored by the defense personnel for the very terrorists who claimed to have caused the damage! These folks will have access to the very spaces and security technologies that are supposed to be implemented for the safety of our federal workers. It is quite likely that current work on the site may have to be suspended in support of the legal proceedings, which might delay the 2013 opening. The costs of these kinds of delays and changes to existing work requirements, on a building already costing over $4 billion dollars, will be significant.

Furthermore, federal workers ultimately housed in the facility will always have the fear of "what if?" lurking in the back of their minds. What if Khalid Mohammed's defense folks were doing more than just walking the grounds?

Meanwhile, large numbers of federal officers, especially CIA, will be required to provide evidence and testimony regarding the five different Islamic terrorists. So what will this trial cost?

If we consider that the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui took four years, the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the other four self-proclaimed Islamic terrorists will likely take much longer. This means that the security requirements will go on for years. The burden on federal workers will go on for years. The cost to the country will go on for years.

Makes you wonder: did President Obama really consider the execution risks of his decision and the unintended costs to federal, state and local agencies as well as American taxpayers? And, if he has, why oh why does President Obama think it will be worth it?