Not in My Backyard

Now that it has been determined that the terror trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will not be held in NYC, I've been asking myself if I'm relieved or disturbed.

Let me explain.  I live in New York City, one express subway stop away from where the trial had been scheduled to take place.  I took the news that the trial would be scheduled there in stride.  Other terrorists have been tried and convicted in that Courthouse. There has always been tremendous police presence in the area, escalated, of course, after September 11th.

"How could you not be upset?" My mother-in-law, safely ensconced in North Carolina asked me.  "Your children are in NYC.  Do you really want the terrorists in the same place?"
This did not make sense to me.

Yes, my children are in NYC, but fortunately, they are not being tried for acts of terror against the United States.  (Charges involving incessant whining are pending, however.)  Likewise, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was not scheduled to be in NYC on a tourist's visa for a makeover.  He is facing prosecution for masterminding the September 11th attack against the United States.

"Wouldn't it be really inconvenient?" A receptionist at the doctor's office I was visiting asked me.  "The police are going practically to shut down that area of the city."

Yes, it would be inconvenient.  No doubt.  And I would be a hypocrite if I said that there was a part of me, the part that rushes around Manhattan and gets annoyed when I can't cross the street because Law & Order:Criminal Intent is filming in my path, isn't relieved.

But there's another part of me that is a little disappointed in myself.  Because I believe in democracy and I believe in our justice system.  I believe that it works, even when it is inconvenient.  And I'm worried that the "not in my backyard" relief that I feel at not being inconvenienced has a price.

This is an original NYC Moms post. Marinka lives with her family in the West Village.  Her personal blog is Motherhood in NYC.