Free Republic

<p>The New York Times' Sunday profile of accused dirty-bomb terrorist Jose Padilla reports, at age 14, he was involved in a fateful armed robbery. Padilla's accomplice fatally stabbed a Mexican immigrant, and Padilla kicked victim Elio Evangelista in the head "because he felt like it," records say.</p>

<p>The American held as an enemy combatant in a suspected scheme to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States has given federal authorities valuable intelligence information and will not be given access to a lawyer until his interrogation ends, senior Justice Department officials said yesterday.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen being held as an enemy combatant in the war on terror, continues to provide valuable intelligence to the government and will not be allowed access to a lawyer until those collection efforts cease, officials said Tuesday.</p>

<p>A Qatar native held on charges of lying to the FBI in an investigation into the September 11 attacks was designated yesterday as an "enemy combatant" and could be tried before a military tribunal for helping al Qaeda operatives relocate in the United States. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, 37, in Justice Department custody since late 2001, was given the new designation by President Bush and handed over to the Defense Department.</p>

<p>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Since 1995, at least 27 Americans have attended four Pakistani religious schools, called madrassas, that preach a radical form of Islam calling for the destruction of the United States, say U.S. and Pakistani officials and clerics at the schools. Most of those students are Arab-Americans or African-Americans who joined and, in some cases, fought for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, the Taliban militia or Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir. At least three of the Americans are believed to have been killed in battle. The whereabouts of the others are unknown.</p>

Civil libertarians are up in arms about the detention of Jose Padilla, a.k.a., Abdullah al Muhajir, a U.S. citizen who allegedly met with a top al Qaeda leader in Pakistan to plot a "dirty bomb" attack on America. The administration, meanwhile, insists its actions are entirely legal, not to mention essential for national security. Who's right? Both--and neither. Below is a quick rundown of the relevant legal questions the Padilla case raises, and some speculative answers. I say "speculative" because lawyering often begins with merely identifying the important legal issues, analogies, and distinctions worthy of further research and analysis. In...