Posted on 06/13/2009 9:16:53 AM PDT by Reagan Man
In a surprising ruling, a federal judge has determined that convicted terrorist, Jose Padilla, can sue former Department of Justice lawyer, John Yoo, over Yoos 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. Padillas lawyers contend that Yoos 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 abuse included extreme sleep and sensory deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, forced sitting and standing in painful "stress" positions, prolonged shackling, lack of medical care and threats of being cut with a knife or killed. The judge found that
"Like any other government official, government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct." Obamas Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder is handling the case. Coincidentally, Yoo is currently a Professor of Law at the University of California Boalt School Of Law while Judge White taught at the same school before he was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2002. In another coincidence, Yoos boss at the time, DoJ Office of Legal Counsel head, Jay Bybee, now sits on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco where the likely appeal will be heard. Bybee signed the memos which Yoo drafted. (Bybee of course, would not participate in the case.)
This ruling, unless it is overturned on appeal, will further erode the presumption that government officials have immunity from lawsuit when they act in their official capacity. This ruling also gives the judicial branch even more oversight of the executive branch in time of war.
Sorry, but there isn't much the judiciary could do that would surprise me nowadays.
Paraphrased: "Like any other government official, the Telepromotee in Chief is responsible for the forseeable consequences of his conduct."
Despite the surface appeal of the ruling's logical extension, $5 says it gets reversed on appeal based on the doctrine of sovereign immunity. "Sometimes known as official immunity, the doctrine was first supported by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1871 case of Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. 335 (1871)."
"Twenty-five years later, in Spalding v. Vilas, 161 U.S. 483 (1896), the Court expanded the doctrine to include officers of the federal Executive Branch. Federal courts since Spalding have continued to grant absolute immunitya complete bar to lawsuits, regardless of the official's motive in actingto federal executive officials, so long as their actions are discretionary and within the scope of their official duties."
Despite these precedents, I have to acknowledge that in today's regime realities, there's a better than good chance I'll lose my $5.
They'll be lionized when the attack finally comes from the islamofascists. And America will want to put the grown-ups in charge again.
I think Padilla has a legitimate argument, although it’s less clear to me that Yoo should be the proper target of a lawsuit. If we are going to hold foreign enemy combatants indefinitely and without trial during a war, there needs to be a legal bright line between such foreign enemies and U.S. citizens (such as Padilla).
If you are a U.S. citizen, then you must be entitled to all of the Constitutional protections that accompany that status. The government can’t just grab you and incarcerate you without charging you with a crime and allowing you a speedy trial. If you committed terrorist acts, then it’s up to the government to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
This is vital to a free society and our political system. Otherwise the government can potentially seize any critic and make him “disappear” just by labeling him an “enemy combatant”. At least doing that to non-citizens doesn’t directly threaten our political freedom.
For the same reason, it’s much more important to have 4th Amendment protections against warrantless wiretapping of two parties within the United States than against warrantless wiretapping where one of the parties is outside the country. It’s vital that the government be prevented from bypassing Constitutional protections and spying on internal political opponents under the guise of fighting terrorism.
For those of you who didn’t fear the government having extra-Constitutional powers when Bush was President, just remember that administrations change. Do you feel equally safe under President Obama?
ONLY if the chief executive is a coward. A chief executive with any spine at all will tell the scumbag judges to go play in the street - - "war" isn't in their job description.
Yep. He appointed this scumbag judge.
The Padilla case was always sketchy because of his US citizenship and in retrospect the Bush administration erred in handling him as an enemy combatant. By doing so they’ve probably caused a lot of long-term damage than had they simply treated it as a straightforward law enforcement issue.
Got that right!
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