Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The California lawmaker who spearheaded a high-profile anti-obesity effort across the country's most populous state is now training his sights on sugar-sweetened drinks. Sen. Alex Padilla, who led a campaign requiring big restaurant chains to disclose calories in meals, said on Thursday he planned to hold hearings in November on the link between soda consumption and obesity. The announcement from Padilla -- who chairs the California Senate's Select Committee on Obesity and Diabetes -- coincides with the release of a study that shows nearly two-thirds of children aged 12 to 17 gulp down at least one...

There are no legal grounds for prosecuting Bush administration lawyers who supported the use of enhanced interrogation techniques to thwart planned terrorist attacks, so civil libertarians have the tort system to try to ruin Bush lawyers. They may succeed. Last week, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco backed a complaint filed by convicted terrorist Jose Padilla and his mother against former White House Office of Legal Counsel John Yoo for writing memos that allegedly led to Padilla's illegal imprisonment and treatment during the three-plus years that Padilla was jailed as an enemy combatant. You are part of the...

More from our screwed up judicial system that makes you go "huh"? Do these guy in lower federal district courts (or Circuits, for that matter) pay *any* attention whatsoever to the SCOTUS? Apparently not. On Friday, US District Judge Jeffrey S. White denied the Obama DOJ's motion to dismiss the suit of Padilla v Yoo, where Padilla accused Yoo rendering legal memos that led to his "severe abuse" in a Naval brig for over three years. (Read the original complaint) The "severe abuse", as defined in his complaint: .... For nearly two years, Mr. Padilla was held in complete isolation...

A prisoner who says he was tortured while being held for nearly four years as a suspected terrorist can sue former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo for coming up with the legal theories that justified his alleged treatment, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White's decision marks the first time a government lawyer has been held potentially responsible for the abuse of detainees. "Like any other government official, government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct," White said in refusing to dismiss Jose Padilla's lawsuit against Yoo. If Padilla, now serving...

A convicted terrorist can sue a former Bush administration lawyer for drafting the legal theories that led to his alleged torture, ruled a federal judge has ruled who said he was trying to balance a clash between war and the defense of personal freedoms.

In a surprising ruling, a federal judge has determined that convicted terrorist, Jose Padilla, can sue former Department of Justice lawyer, John Yoo, over Yoo’s legal opinion that led to Padilla being held as an enemy combatant. US District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California based in San Francisco, denied a Department of Justice motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Padilla’s lawyers contend that Yoo’s legal opinions allowed the US military to detain Padilla as an enemy combatant which led to Padilla being subjected to torture. As reported by local TV station KTVU: The lawsuit alleges the...

Amid all the shocking details in the disrupted plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and fire missiles at American military aircraft, one component of the case should come as no surprise - three of the alleged culprits converted to radical Islam in prison. Radical Islamists have targeted prison populations for recruitment for years. That's where Jose Padilla, suspected of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb and convicted of conspiracy to murder people overseas and of providing material support to terrorists, converted and was radicalized. That's where a California man, Kevin James, created his own cell, called the Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS),...

HP-1353 "Treasury Designates Additional FARC International Commission Members" SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated three international representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization. The OFAC action was taken pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), which applies financial sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and organizations, like the FARC. "Today's action exposes three additional members of the FARC's International Commission," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of OFAC. "The FARC is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine and continues to be...

MIAMI (AFP) - Jose Padilla, the US citizen arrested in 2002 for an alleged dirty bomb plot only to see those charges disappear three years later, was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison Tuesday for supporting the Al-Qaeda terror network. ADVERTISEMENT Two other men accused of plotting with Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, also received lengthy prison terms: 15 years and eight months for Hassoun and 12 years and eight months for Jayyousi. Miami federal judge Marcia Cook said there was not enough support for the charges to give Padilla the maximum life sentence requested...

War is a continuation of politics by other means, the German strategist Carl von Clausewitz famously observed in his 19th-century treatise, "On War." Clausewitz surely could never have imagined that politics, pursued through our own courts, would be the continuation of war. Last week, I (a former Bush administration official) was sued by José Padilla -- a 37-year-old al Qaeda operative convicted last summer of setting up a terrorist cell in Miami. Padilla wants a declaration that his detention by the U.S. government was unconstitutional, $1 in damages, and all of the fees charged by his own attorneys. The lawsuit...

JOSE PADILLA, the so-called dirty bomber, is expected to be sentenced by a federal judge in Miami this week, and judging from the reaction to his conviction last summer the case will be hailed by many as a triumph of the use of criminal law as the primary weapon against domestic terrorism. The White House will no doubt reiterate its view that the prosecution of Mr. Padilla, a United States citizen, upholds “a core American principle of impartial justice for all.” But the White House has been far from alone in praising the verdict. Perhaps because the argument over Mr....

John Yoo can be forgiven if he's having second thoughts about his career choice. A Yale Law School graduate, the Berkeley professor of law went on to serve his country at the Justice Department. Yet last week he was sued by convicted terrorist Jose Padilla and his mother, who are represented by none other than lawyers at Yale. Perhaps if Mr. Yoo had decided to pursue a life of terrorism, he too could be represented by his alma mater. Padilla is the American citizen who was arrested in 2002, and detained as an "enemy combatant" in a military brig in...

MIAMI (AP) - Convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla sued a key architect of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies Friday, claiming the official's legal arguments led to Padilla's alleged mistreatment and illegal detention at a Navy brig. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claims that John Yoo, a former senior Justice Department official, wrote several legal memos that led President Bush to designate Padilla as an enemy combatant shortly after the U.S. citizen was arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on suspicion of involvement in an al-Qaida plot. Yoo at the time was deputy...

A former high-level D.C. schools official has been charged with plotting global terrorist acts while also struggling to renovate classrooms and rid city schools of asbestos. Kifah Waed Jayyousi, the former facilities director for D.C. public schools, was ordered held in Detroit yesterday after he was arrested for providing material support to terrorists and plotting acts of terrorism outside the United States.

MIAMI -- Attorneys for convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla say he was so badly mistreated by the government during 3 1/2 years in military custody that he deserves far less than the life prison sentence sought by federal prosecutors. A sentencing hearing set to begin this week for Padilla was postponed Tuesday until Jan. 7 because of a death in the judge's family... In court filings, attorneys for Padilla also say U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke should look at whether the U.S. citizen would be more harshly punished than other terrorism suspects, and should take into consideration the conditions...

Padilla sues US officials over confinement Despite his conviction on terror conspiracy charges, his lawyers say he suffered 'psychological abuse' during military detention. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Convicted Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla is seeking to hold former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 59 other US officials responsible for what his lawyers say were abusive and unconstitutional tactics used against Mr. Padilla while he was held in military custody as an enemy combatant from 2002 to 2006. Lawyers working on Padilla's behalf filed the civil lawsuit earlier this year in federal court in...

People who knew Jose Padilla before he was sent to a Navy brig in 2002 say he emerged a different man after three and a half years of isolation and interrogation. Those who observed him only from a distance also noticed a change: The "dirty bomber" whose capture then-Attorney General John Ashcroft had announced on live TV morphed into yet another junior jihadist who went to Afghanistan for arms training but never came close to carrying out an attack. Padilla's recent conviction on terrorism-related charges highlights the contrast between the murderous mastermind portrayed by the Bush administration and the less...

Abdullah Al-Muhajir, a.k.a. Jose Padilla, was convicted Thursday of supporting terrorist activity and, said Associated Press, “conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas.” At the Leftist website Daily Kos, Padilla was hailed as an “American Martyr to ‘War on Terror,’” and his trial was compared to the witch hysteria: “As was the case during the witch trials of yesteryear, only the socially unpopular, the mentally ill, and the politically dangerous end up at the end of a noose or in yet another bonfire of political vanity.” The barely literate posting went on to complain that the case against Padilla...

He was a well-dressed, soft-spoken man who was devoted to his large family and seemed knowledgeable about ways to repair Washington's broken down public schools. Kifah W. Jayyousi's chief problem as a D.C. school official appeared to be a reckless determination to get the job done, those who knew him said. He lasted less than two years before he was booted out, but no one suspected that the mild-mannered naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan might be associated with terrorists. On Thursday, a federal jury in Miami convicted the former chief of facilities for D.C. public schools of conspiring to murder,...

So, as you all know, the news comes out that Jose Padilla has been convicted of being a terrorist by a US Court, yet the AP wants to focus more on what it feels the government did wrong than what Padilla did. I guess the AP thinks the US government is more guilty than is a convicted terrorist. Even after his conviction, the AP fills their report with "supposedly," "possible," and other mitigating verbiage to describe Padilla and the other terror suspects in the news. But even as they want to give Padilla a pass they cast the Bush Administration's...

Padilla Convicted, but the AP Still Can't Believe he's Guilty! By Warner Todd Huston | August 18, 2007 - 05:24 ET So, as you all know, the news comes out that Jose Padilla has been convicted of being a terrorist by a US Court, yet the AP wants to focus more on what it feels the government did wrong than what Padilla did. I guess the AP thinks the US government is more guilty than is a convicted terrorist.Even after his conviction, the AP fills their report with "supposedly," "possible," and other mitigating verbiage to describe Padilla and the other...

There were two perfectly predictable schools of thought being expressed after the conviction of Jose Padilla on Thursday on terrorism-related charges. Supporters of the Bush administration said the conviction justified the more than three years Mr. Padilla spent in military detention before his criminal prosecution, while the administration’s opponents said the verdict proved that the criminal justice system should have handled the case in the first place. But the real innovation in Mr. Padilla’s case, some legal experts said yesterday, was more subtle than those dueling talking points suggested. The Justice Department’s strategy in the trial itself, using a seldom-tested...

After a three-month trial, a federal jury convicted home-grown terrorist Jose Padilla (AKA Abdullah al-Muhajir or Muhajir Abdullah) of terrorism conspiracy charges. Padilla and co-defendants Adham Hassoun, a Palestinian born in Lebanon, and Kifah Jayyousi, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan, were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim overseas, one count of conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists and one count of material support for terrorists.Opponents of the Bush administration’s policy of treating terrorists as enemy combatants rather than common criminals, point to the verdict as "proof" that convictions can be obtained while...

The loony schmucks over at the Daily Kos that hate conservatives but love Liberal Democrats are seething and were stumbling all over themselves in defense of convicted Muslim Terrorist Jose Padilla. From The Daily KKKos: GUILTY: American Martyr to “War on Terror” Padilla only the socially unpopular, the mentally ill, and the politically dangerous end up at the end of a noose or in yet another bonfire of political vanity. From allegations of planning to plant a readioactive “dirty” bomb, to being convicted of having his prints on a piece of apparently “found” by the government. The rest was purely...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The guilty verdict against Jose Padilla showed the Bush administration could win a high-profile terrorism conviction despite questions over whether it acted legally in detaining the U.S. citizen for 3-1/2 years without charges. But critics and law experts called Thursday's verdict a messy win for the government, in which it was able to avoid answering for its long detention and interrogation of Padilla without the legal rights normally granted U.S. citizens, and, his lawyers said, for torturing him. Some said it showed that the administration still lacks a workable system for trying terrorism suspects nearly six years...

(AP) Jose Padilla, center, is escorted by federal marshals during his arrival in Miami, in this Jan. 5,... Full Image Google sponsored links Free IE7 Download - Google recommends upgrading to the new, safer Internet Explorer 7. www.google.com/toolbar/ie7/ Free Internet Speed Check - Run our free Optimize scan to find out how to get a faster internet www.pcpitstop.com MIAMI (AP) - Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant, was convicted Thursday of helping Islamic extremists and plotting overseas attacks in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's zeal to clamp down...

Just announced that a verdict reached and to be announced in an hour or so in Miami.

A verdict was reached Thursday in the trial of Jose Padilla and two co-defendants charged with supporting al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist groups overseas. The jury verdict was scheduled to be read at 2 p.m. EDT before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami's downtown federal courthouse, according to an announcement from her chambers. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about a day and a half following a three-month trial. Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face possible life in prison if convicted of all three charges in the case

Jurors in the trial of Jose Padilla and two other men cannot consider whether the men’s actions were justified by Islamic law, a federal judge ruled. The judge, Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court, agreed to a request from prosecutors to instruct the jurors that each of the men could be convicted even if they “may have believed that the conduct was religiously, politically or morally required, or that ultimate good would result.” (snip)

MIAMI - The defense rested its case Tuesday in the trial of Jose Padilla and two other men charged with supporting terrorism, with Padilla's lawyers calling no witnesses or putting on any evidence. After the defense rested, prosecutors called only one additional witness and then ended their case, earlier than had been anticipated. The actions, coming on day 53 of the trial, clear the way for closing arguments, likely next week. Jurors could begin deliberations next week as well. Padilla, 36, is accused along with Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, both 45, of participating in a support network...

MIAMI - Federal prosecutors rested their case Friday against Jose Padilla and two co-defendants charged with participating in an al-Qaida support cell. The jury has listened to nearly nine weeks of testimony from 22 witnesses and tapes of dozens of FBI wiretaps collected during an investigation that lasted years. Defense lawyers for Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi will begin their case next week, with the trial likely to continue into August. Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, was originally accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb." He was arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's...

MIAMI - Jose Padilla gave evasive or vague answers about his activities in the Middle East shortly after arriving at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in May 2002, an FBI agent testified Thursday at his trial on a charge of supporting terrorism. Padilla did not remember the address or telephone number for his wife and children in Egypt, or the last name of his roommate, agent Russell Fincher said. In contrast, Padilla remembered many details of his life growing up in Chicago, including specific streets where his family lived, Fincher said. He also was carrying documents with other personal information such...

MIAMI - The federal judge in Jose Padilla's terrorism support trial refused to declare a mistrial Thursday after at least one juror saw one of Padilla's co-defendants in shackles outside the courtroom. Attorneys for Adham Amin Hassoun said his right to a fair trial had been jeopardized, but U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said after interviewing jurors that none had been "unfairly prejudiced in this matter." On Tuesday, the 16 jurors were being transported in government vans from the courthouse's basement garage to their cars. As one of the vans was leaving, three deputy U.S. marshals escorted Hassoun through the...

British Intelligence: Al-Qaida Expanding -Full Story- British intelligence officials said they believe that al-Qaida has a secure base in Pakistan's Waziristan region and is planning terrorist operations.The group is reaching out to Muslims in North Africa, The Telegraph reported. Last year, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian terrorist group, merged itself into al-Qaida, a move announced by Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a tape promising action against the "apostates" in the Algerian government and "the treacherous sons of France."Al-Qaida is also believed to be planning expansion into Lebanon and Syria, the newspaper report...

MIAMI -- Prosecutors in the trial of Jose Padilla yesterday played for the jury a selection of conversations recorded during the late 1990s in which the terrorist suspect and others are thought to discuss waging jihad, or holy war, in Kosovo. FBI Special Agent John Kavanaugh continued testimony that began Friday about Mr. Padilla and fellow defendant Adham Amin Hassoun, who purportedly discussed opportunities for Mr. Padilla to travel abroad to participate in jihad.

'Sleeper cell' had S.D. ties, jury told Clairemont resident is on trial in Miami Years before three of the Sept. 11 hijackers set up shop in this corner of the country, a group of Muslim extremists in San Diego was raising money and recruiting fighters for a worldwide holy war, according to federal records and testimony that unfolded last week in a Miami courtroom. Kifah Jayyousi As early as 1993, the FBI was wiretapping at least two San Diego men who agents suspected were members of a “sleeper cell” plotting terror strikes across the globe. The government also was tracking...

Years before three of the Sept. 11 hijackers set up shop in this corner of the country, a group of Muslim extremists in San Diego was raising money and recruiting fighters for a worldwide holy war, according to federal records and testimony that unfolded last week in a Miami courtroom. As early as 1993, the FBI was wiretapping at least two San Diego men who agents suspected were members of a “sleeper cell” plotting terror strikes across the globe. The government also was tracking money transfers and cash deposits to a series of nonprofit organizations run by the suspects, Mohammed...

Meaning of 'jihad' focus of Fla. trial By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago Defense attorneys in the Jose Padilla terrorism support trial are going to great lengths to suggest to jurors that jihad is not necessarily Muslim holy war and that mujahedeen could just as easily be freedom fighters as terrorists. The meaning of words, especially Arabic words, is center stage as federal prosecutors play hours of FBI telephone intercepts involving Padilla and two other defendants charged with participating in an Islamic extremist support network. Padilla, 36, is a U.S. citizen who was held for 3 1/2...

MIAMI - Jurors in the terrorism support and conspiracy trial of Jose Padilla heard his voice on an FBI wiretap for the first time Friday, in a conversation that prosecutors say proves he was getting ready to fight jihad overseas. In the July 1997 intercepted phone call, co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun tells Padilla in English that "the most important thing is that you tell me you're ready." The FBI's lead investigator in the case testified that Hassoun was talking about going to an area of jihad, or Islamic holy war. "God willing ... it's going to happen soon," Padilla responds....

MIAMI - An FBI agent testified Thursday in the trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla that members of an alleged Islamic extremist support network talked in code, substituting words like "tourism" and "football" for "jihad." The agent, John T. Kavanaugh, said participants suspected they were being overheard by government officials and urged one another not to openly discuss sensitive matters over the phone. "They believed they were not the only people listening to the telephone calls. It was said explicitly," Kavanaugh said. Among the most common code words, he said, was "tourism" in place of "jihad" — an Arabic...

MIAMI - A federal judge refused Friday to toss out FBI wiretap evidence in the Jose Padilla terrorism support case, rejecting an attempt by defense attorneys to prevent jurors from hearing conversations about Osama bin Laden and other well-known Islamic extremist leaders. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke ruled the two dozen telephone intercepts that drew objections from defense attorneys were relevant to the case. Cooke also rejected defense assertions that invoking bin Laden's name would make Padilla and his two co-defendants appear more guilty in the jury's eyes. "The mere fact that a name is mentioned, in and of itself,...

MIAMI - The FBI intercepted more than 300,000 calls during a nearly decade-long investigation into a purported Islamic extremist support cell that suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla eventually joined, an agent told jurors Tuesday. The tapes form the backbone of the federal case against Padilla and his two suspected co-conspirators, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi. Jurors in the trial of the three men are expected to begin hearing the tapes and reading translations from Arabic to English in the coming days. Prosecutors say they will show that Hassoun, Jayyousi and others plotted — often using code words —...

MIAMI -- Fingerprints found on a purported al Qaeda training camp questionnaire discovered in Afghanistan match those of terrorist suspect Jose Padilla, a government analyst testified yesterday. John Morgan, a Secret Service fingerprint specialist, said seven fingerprints on a "mujahedeen data form" match Mr. Padilla's, who prosecutors say was attempting to join a terrorist training camp in southern Afghanistan in July 2000.

Here is a key piece of evidence in the case against American-born Jose Padilla, whose federal trial begins Monday in Miami — an Al Qaeda job application form. (Click here to read an English translation of the Al Qaeda application, as well as the original Arabic.) The application — obtained by ABC News' Law & Justice Unit — provides a window into a highly sophisticated organization with a corporate structure that resembles that of large American companies. "It's a membership application — just the way you or I would fill out an application for a credit card company,'' said Jack...

"Many potential jurors in the Jose Padilla terrorism-support case say they aren't sure who directed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because they don't trust reporters or the federal government."

Potential terror jurors cite 9/11 doubts By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago Many potential jurors in the Jose Padilla terrorism-support case say they aren't sure who directed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because they don't trust reporters or the federal government. "There are too many ifs, too many things going on," one male juror said. "I don't know the whole story." Others say they just don't pay close enough attention to world events to be certain. "I'm oblivious to that stuff," one prospective female juror said during questioning this week. "I don't watch the news much. I...

Oftentimes, a journalist will defend his/her industry with the claim that people are not influenced by the media. This is true for some things--things that a person has direct knowledge about--but not for other things such as the national economy, events in other countries, and many others. On these issues, a person trusts the media they follow. You think what your media diet is in other words.The unfortunate thing about this is that there is a subset of media out there which is devoted to promoting ridiculous conspiracy theories. It's scary whenever you encounter a story about actual people who...

MIAMI -- It's been nearly five years since then-Attorney General John Ashcroft declared the United States had thwarted an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a major city and had arrested a "known terrorist," Jose Padilla. Ashcroft suggested the plot could have caused "mass death and injury" and said President Bush had designated Padilla, a U.S. citizen, as an enemy combatant who would be held in indefinite military custody rather than face civilian charges. "He was involved in planning future terrorist attacks on American civilians in the United States," Ashcroft said in June 2002, while the jittery...

MIAMI, (AP) -- A federal judge refused to dismiss terrorism charges against Jose Padilla over claims that the alleged al-Qaida operative was tortured in U.S. military custody, removing one of the last major obstacles to the start of his trial next week. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke stressed in a 12-page order filed late Monday that she was not passing judgment on the torture allegations. Rather, she said the effort to dismiss the case for "outrageous government conduct" was faulty on legal grounds. Padilla's lawyers claim that during the 3 1/2 years Padilla was held as an "enemy combatant" at...

MIAMI, (AP) -- A federal judge refused to dismiss the terrorism support charges against alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla on Friday, rejecting defense claims that his 3 1/2 years in custody as an enemy combatant violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke agreed with prosecutors that Padilla's years in isolation at a Navy brig did not count because he had not yet been charged. The criminal charges came when Padilla was added to an existing Miami terrorism support indictment in November 2005. Only then did the clock start for the Sixth Amendment's right to...