Posted on 01/02/2006 8:40:00 PM PST by neverdem
the administration only did this with Padilla because they know they are likely to lose the case regarding his enemy combatant classification in the SCOTUS - setting a precedent that will remove this power from the executive. rather then face this precednet setting loss, they wanted to short circuit the decision by transferring Padilla to other civilian charges and stopping the case from going up.
and I will also add thet I am happy that Luttig didn't get a SCOTUS appointment after reading this.
Why would the administration ever appeal anything to the supreme court.
Thier are five hard core liberals on the supreme court, six if o'conner is still there.
Padilla's lawyers are appealing it, the administration's moves in the courts are designed to avert what they believe will be a final ruling by the SCOTUS eliminating the enemy combatant designation - they want to avoid that.
actually, on the Padilla case, from what I have read - Scalia is also against the administration.
Now, so am I.
If you ask me Lutting, who does not oppose enemy combatant stauts, did us all a favor by warning the administration that their entire stance on the issue will be jeopardized if they keep trying to play games with the courts.
IMHO Luttig did the Bush Administration a favor in this decision. Luttig basically said that the Bush Administration would undermine their own authority to hold Traitors like Padilla as Battle Field Combatants, and ordered Padilla back into Military custody.... Am I wrong?
That's how I see this decision as well, see my post just after yours
I hardly see that the executive has abused the use of the enemy combatant designation - hell, how many times has it been used against a US citizen?
Instead of "Rebuke" this should be Titled "Affirmation"
You are not wrong, but the fact is that the administration was rebuked, and to people who see the administration as perfect, their only conclusion must therefore be that Luttig and the 4th circuit were wrong.
that is true, Luttig did not oppose it. but that is meaningless since his court does not get to make the final decision. but he fails to recognize (or does not care) why the administration is doing this, and is perfectly willing to send it up and have it tossed.
frankly, these claims are finished now (or will be once the Padilla case gets up to the SCOTUS). the administration is learning that it must handle these cases differently - use foreign prisons, don't capture or detain these people on US soil, kill them right away like we did to that fellow in Yemen with the CIA drone missile attack - because once our federal courts get a hold of them, they will grant them every accomodation.
you are not "wrong" - you are just not seeing the endgame here.
To hell with all these legal classifications, The rat bastard is a Traitor and we should treat him as one, I say give him a fair trial and place him in front of a Firing Squad once he is found guilty
because you have to give him a trial to do that - a civilian trial with all the rules of evidence. do you want Padilla's ACLU lawyers to be able to depose Khallid Sheik Mohammed? do you want evidence from these NSA "warrantless" wiretaps to be presented, so some judge can rule them inadmissable on 4th amendment grounds?
Padilla deserved a military tribunal as his due process, but the federal courts would not let go of the case so he could be given one. now, we will be lucky if the SOB can be convicted of any charges.
So I conclude that they would rather let a low level punk like Padilla walk before undermining our tactics..
Am I close :-)
See post #19... I think we are on the same page
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