Posted on 12/21/2005 2:06:48 PM PST by AntiGuv
WASHINGTON - In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody.
The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to vacate a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil.
The decision, written by Judge Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set to convince a grand jury in Florida to indict him last month.
Luttig said the administration has risked its "credibility before the courts" by appearing to use the indictment of Padilla to thwart an appeal of the appeals court's decision that gave the president wide berth in holding enemy combatants.
Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport as he returned to the United States from Afghanistan. Justice and Defense Department officials alleged Padilla had come home to carry out an al-Qaida backed plot to blow up apartment buildings in New York, Washington or Florida.
indeed, look at the warrantless search of Aldrich Ames home conducted under Clinton. once the citizen has essentally become an agent of a foreign power, the game changes. I saw no uproar over Aldrich Ames rights being violated.
LOL - exactly - now multiply that by coordinated terrorists attacks and it quickly adds up (especially if YOU or family / loved ones are one of the unlucky ones).
The Constitution is not a suicide pact - if it becomes one, then YES ditch it!
O.K., what's your best estimate of casualties from 50 suitcase nukes timed simultaneously (or staggered if that causes the most panic) in the 50 cities I linked to above?
Mine is 2 million, so there.
Where to you get that?
Where did I say you DON'T want to allow whatever means the President and NSA deems appropriate - good to have you aboard though - maybe all that "ditching the Constitution" talk above was some big misunderstanding.
And Luttig is so much better than Harriette Myers. /sarcasm
Padilla's a flipping traitor, and his name when he fought against his own nation was Abdullah al-Muhajir.
Wonder why Luttig can't see through this Padilla crap?
Well that gives us all cause to breathe easier. Of course it may be a coordinated attack on 6 or so major population centers but even so we still probably won't hit that magical one million mark that may make some really sit up and take notice of the threat.
nope, no difference according to your strict interpetation. a US citizens rights extends to anywhere he is. either Padilla and John Walker both were agents of a foreign power, or they were just regular "criminals". we can't be at war with these people everywhere in the world - except at OHare airport.
I'm NOT assuming that - YOU ARE - every person in said cities would be over 45 million dead, not 2 million. What's your worse case estimate?
Yup, this just solidifies my support for Luttig for the next SCOTUS seat.
In response to those who knee-jerk that Luttig is a bad guy because he ruled against Bush, I have two comments.
First, ruling against the President on a war-related issue would only help him in confirmation hearings.
It is also far from clear to me that Luttig was actually ruling against what the Bush administration wanted in this case -- smells like one of those "wheels within wheels" pieces of work. Sounds like he kept Bush from getting beat in the SCOTUS.
I think th eproblem isn't that we haven't the evidence... but that the evidence is highly classified (perhaps the methods involved in obtaining the evidence), and thus the govt. might prefer to let him walk rather than reveal their methods.
You're welcome - I shall not return the favor in some macabre admiration that less than 1 million will die.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.