Posted on 12/04/2002 7:36:17 AM PST by RCW2001
Wednesday, December 4, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/12/04/national1021EST0545.DTL
(12-04) 07:21 PST NEW YORK (AP) --
A federal court has authority to decide whether Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member accused of plotting with terrorists to detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb, was properly detained as an enemy combatant, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Padilla has been barred from meeting with lawyers since his arrest May 8. U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey said Wednesday that Padilla may meet with them now.
The ruling was a blow to the government, which had argued that Padilla, a U.S. citizen, had no right to challenge its actions in court because he was detained as an "enemy combatant."
Padilla was arrested on a material witness warrant issued by a grand jury and secretly held in a federal jail. He has been in a Navy brig since he was declared an "enemy combatant" in June and transferred to the control of the U.S. military. The government says the "enemy combatant" declaration allows it to hold him without formal criminal charges.
The government said Padilla twice met with senior al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan in March and discussed a plot to detonate a radiological weapon in the United States.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney James B. Comey had no immediate comment. Lawyers for Padilla did not immediately return a telephone message for comment.
©2002 Associated Press
In fact, I feel that all American Islamists, i.e, those who would implement jihad to invoke sharia, or Islamic law, on the infidel by force, if so identified, should be similarly detained.
If the government can ignore the rights of one citizen, it can do the same to any and all of us.
As far-fetched as it may sound, what is to keep a future government from doing the same to you someday? You might be a pro-lifer, rounded up after agents provocateur blow up a few butcheries (remember the Reichstag?). Or perhaps a future government will attempt a bold power grab, and you might belong to a group calling for the return to individual liberty and constitutional government.
Think for a minute. Must the government prove any case of wrongdoing against you -- a Citizen -- in a Constitutionally-prescribled court of law which presumes your innocence? Or might it simply declare your guilt by your mere association with an unpopular group, and then quietly dispose of you in a secret court martial with secret evidence and anonymous witnesses? Who will be empowered to make those determinations? And to whom will these dictators be accountable?
The answers can be found in the history of the French Revolution, where the accusation was tantamount to conviction. Imagine what mischief a future American government can do if allowed to lump you in with the hated group de jour, and simply ignore your rights as a Citizen.
If there is enough evidence to jail him, there is enough evidence to have a jury of his peers convict him.
There are plenty of folks out there with security clearances that could be called for jury duty. The trial details could be sealed afterwards for 10 years or so.
Holding a citizen without trial is wrong: immoral and illegal. It might be the most convenient course of action, but the precedent is unbelievably dangerous.
As far as an enemy combatant goes, seriously, what evidence has been presented to show that his detention is vital to the security of the United States or that he was actually involved in 'combating' the US?
"There are plenty of folks out there with security clearances that could be called for jury duty. The trial details could be sealed afterwards for 10 years or so."
Even here, you're advocating an essentially closed trail.
Early legal strategies of many persons charged with espionage threaten that classified information will come out in open court, or be exposed to administrative segments without security clearences.
The preliminary evidence that Padilla was an enemy combatant I believe justifies holding him as such. If, at some point, he can be tried when the danger he poses, passes, fine.
I'm not worried about myself in this regard, to the point, once passed, where I would be willing to wage war on my countrymen. Not to say that point couldn't come. Though it definitely did come for Padilla. And I say he's justifiably held.
So what your saying is that if the government "thinks" a citizen might commit a crime or that a citizen "might" engage in an attack on the US based on the citizens religion it should be able to detain those persons?
What is the burden of proof that you would require the government to meet to act in such a way? A hunch?
To wage war, is in fact to wage war. And that is, in fact exactly what I want our government to do against our enemies. That is government's pupose.
And what evidence would that be?
Catholic priests have waged decades of sexual abuse on children. Following your demands regarding muslims, the government should be rounding up catholic priests and those they associate with to prevent future child abuse.
Officials said that when Al Muhajir arrived in Chicago, he declared having $8,000 but was found to have more than $10,000 in his possession.
In the weeks before he flew to Chicago, Al Muhajir was tracked flying between Pakistan, Egypt and Switzerland, officials said.
U.S. officials later said an "associate" of Al Muhajir had been arrested in Pakistan before May 8. It was not clear whether this was the "associate" Ashcroft referred to when he said Al Muhajir was working with someone in Pakistan on plans to build a dirty bomb." --CNN
...And, I suspect it goes deeper. Naturally, this is based only on what I know. Yet even by that little, I'm satisfied.
Though this is primarily domestic criminal activity as opposed to international warfare, each having its relevence to national security.
Sentence: Life.
Wow, can't wait till the next Janet Reno.
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