It’s an old political truth that nobody wants a jail in their neighborhood. Mayors and governors that need to find someplace to build a prison can always expect headaches, as citizen groups and their representatives protest construction near where they live.Now the entire nation faces a similar conundrum with much higher stakes — where do we keep suspected terrorists?The Department of Justice recently announced Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described “mastermind” behind the September 11 attacks, will be tried in a New York City court. Meanwhile, officials are considering moving prisoners from the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, which is scheduled for closure, to a prison in Illinois.These announcements have sparked fiery protests from many observers. Especially with Mohammed’s trial in New York, citizens and public figures nationwide claim bringing these terrorists into the country is too great a security risk.The security situation is difficult for anyone to address, and it’s impossible to assess from a newsroom computer desk. People’s fear of some of the most dangerous criminals in the world — and the huge target their presence places on wherever they are held — is certainly justified.But if government officials believe the trials can be conducted and prisoners kept securely — and it appears at this point they do — then it’s imperative justice be served on American soil.Suspected terrorists were kept in secret prisons overseas during George W. Bush’s administration. Americans may have rested more easily at night knowing the murderous militants were kept far away from home, but the foreign prisons were maintained in a veil of questionable judicial legitimacy — and sometimes (as the incidents at Guantanamo Bay starkly illustrated) in absolutely, criminally unacceptable prison environments. Our justice system — due process, right to an attorney and all the other implements that may seem technical but are essential to fair trials — is one of the fundamental freedoms of our society. It’s one of the shining merits of a democracy.Indeed, one of the biggest reasons we can claim any moral high ground in the fight against terrorism is because we treat our prisoners humanely.  Keeping captives in secret prisons under circumstances of undeniably murky legality is the system used by the very nations we harshly criticize, such as Iran and North Korea. And the isolated environment of secret prisons, far afield from accountability and the American ideals, is a veritable breeding ground for prisoner abuse — the very methods of torture employed by our enemies.But more importantly, keeping prisoners abroad because we’re too afraid to bring them to our native soil is a display of weakness and fear — exactly what terrorists are trying to instill in us.The word terrorism is perfectly descriptive of the methods used to achieve it. Terrorists commit acts of stunning brutality to instill fear, to cow those they oppose into an agenda in line with their interests.If we allow our justice system to be perverted simply because we’re afraid of the people we need to put to trial, then we’ve done exactly that.There could hardly be a more powerful symbol than trying the 9/11 mastermind in New York City. By bringing swift justice in the very city Mohammed and his sinister associates attacked, we are unequivocally telling the terrorists and the world we will not bow to their reckless hate.By trying terrorists on our own land, in full accordance with the rule of law central to our democracy, we are announcing boldly we will not compromise our freedoms to threats of violence.It might be scary, but it’s necessary. And when it’s all over and justice is wrought, our vindication will be all the greater.Matthew Albright is a 21-year old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]