Jose Padilla and John Doe #2
Here's to hoping you pull your heaad out of your nether region!
Posted on 08/17/2007 11:30:02 AM PDT by 300magnum
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 after the September 11 attacks.
"The verdict is important because it provides cover. It validates the government's tactics in a way that the jury may not have necessarily meant to," said American University law professor Stephen Vladeck.
"Padilla has had his day in court, but only with respect to the charges, and not to his treatment and not the lawfulness of his detention for 3-1/2 years in a Navy brig," Vladeck said.
Amnesty International said "President Bush should not take (the verdict) as permission to continue to hold Americans outside the law at his whim."
The administration claimed victory in the verdict, in which a federal jury in Miami convicted Padilla and two co-defendants on charges of offering their services to terrorists.
Padilla, a U.S. convert to Islam, was arrested in 2002 and initially accused of plotting a radiological "dirty bomb" attack. President George W. Bush ordered him held in a military prison as an illegal "enemy combatant."
"A DIRT VICTORY"
But faced with legal challenges to Bush' authority to jail a person without charge, prosecutors added Padilla to an existing terrorism support case in Miami and never charged him with any bomb plot.
"It's kind of a dirty victory because of the way the case came about, but still it's a victory nonetheless," said Jeffrey Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.
"I think it was the right verdict," he said.
He said the administration is still trying to come up with an efficient system for trying terrorism suspects, after trying to rely on international "laws of war" to hold Padilla.
The Padilla case showed that U.S. terrorism suspects and foreigners such as those held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba can be tried in civilian courts, said Michael Greenberger, law professor and director of the Center for Health and Homeland security at the University of Maryland.
"A lot of resources were wasted ... by the attempt to expand executive power," he said.
Furthermore, U.S. prestige abroad was eroded by the administration's handling of the case, which was seen as an effort to circumvent constitutional protections, he said.
Bush has tried to implement a system of military commissions to try the Guantanamo suspects, but he has lost court challenges.
Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Craig Morford acknowledged after the verdict that civilian courts can handle some terrorism cases. But other cases involving national security, classified information or other complications may not be suited for civilian courts, he said.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Each case has to be looked on an individual basis ... some might be an American citizen, but many are not, as are most held in Guantanamo Bay. And I think that's an important distinction."
Victory is Defeat.
(for the left and the Democrat Party specifically)
Furthermore, U.S. prestige abroad was eroded
Security or prestige? I’ll take the security first and worry about prestige later and that’s what this administration is trying to do as is their constitutional duty. As I read the headlines throughout the world and watch world politics I don’t consider loss of prestige throughout the world as a negative anymore. Appeasement seems to be the rule today with no nation willing to take a stand outside the handful who have “lost prestige”
I think that's finally going to be the result, despite this article's misleading reporting on the issue. Congress fixed the technical defect Justice Kennedy thought he found in the former procedure.
Welcome to FR!
Thanks!
The analogy doesn’t fit precisely as those captured were actually part of the Germany military. Padilla was found guilty of engaging in support activities to AQ rather than actually being a part of the organization. If a President Hilterly comes along, thanks to Bush’s power grab against US citizens, I fully expect gun owners and pro lifers to be harassed along those lines. Hence why its a bad idea.
And he’s been charged with his complicity in the OK bombing since when?? Oh wait, he hasn’t. Take off the tinfoil and spare me the conspiracy nonsense.
How would you know if he was a member of Al-Qaeda? They don’t wear uniforms, and Al-qaeda doesn’t issue 1099s. If someone is caught on a battlefield carrying enemy munitions, or comes back to America from an Al-Qaeda training camp, it’s reasonable to view him as an enemy combatant. Let him prove otherwise to a military tribunal.
As an American citizen, the burden of proof to determine whether he is or is not an agent of AQ is on the govt, not the defendant. If he is, once that’s determined then perhaps a military commission is an appropriate venue. To give a blank check to the executive to determine who is and who is not is however inappropriate and dangerous.
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