Not that one should give a crap about al-alwaki— who is/was in a foreign land advocating attacking the US, buuut...
there is some bizarre pretzel logic applied to the notion of
an American citizen receiving “due process” of the Constitution but NOT requiring JUDICIAL process in being targeted for extermination by the citizen’s government.
The concept of a Bill of Attainder could, maybe should be applied in extreme cases legislatively in secret and give the executive authority and the “offender” time to turn themselves in for judicial treatment under the law. But for the Executive to just “declare” for secret reasons— that a citizen be killed? This is just not right.
And this judge is just too stupid to fight the fait accompli. There is no sense in the ruling.
Awlaki was an enemy combatant as far as I am concerned and could have been whacked at will anywhere outside the US by US forces, but why hide “the memo” that provides the constitutional protections against frivolous determinations by the President that any Joe Blow is an enemy combatant?
“Trust but verify” is needed, not “Trust me”!
That would require an amendment, as bills of attainder are illegal. And thank God they are, because we may be liable to explode at any moment, but at least Congress can’t officially badmouth us.