There’s a lesson to be learned in the successful prosecution of Ahmed Ressam, the man who tried to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on New Year’s Day 2000.

Last week, Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison after an open trial in which the terrorist was afforded legal representation and the ability to face his accusers, hallmarks of the American justice system.

“All this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely or deny the defendant the right to counsel,” said U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour, as he handed down the sentence. “Our courts have not abandoned the commitment to the ideals that set this nation apart.”

“The tragedy of 9-11 shook our sense of security … Unfortunately some think this threat renders our Constitution obsolete,” he said, according to The Kansas City Star. “My sworn duty, as long as there is breath in my body, is to defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The point should not be lost on a country struggling to deal with hundreds, if not thousands, of detainees who have been denied access to legal representation and to a fair and public trial.

While there’s some self-congratulation in Coughenour’s statements, he’s also speaking an unpopular truth.

It is the United States’ commitment to the rule of law and the Constitution that keeps the country strong. Making special rules for terror suspects that deny them the opportunity to challenge their detention is a disservice to the country and the men and women who risk their lives to protect it.