Rob
Padilla Rejected by U.S. High Court on Enemy Combatant Status
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S . Supreme Court turned away an appeal from Jose Padilla, refusing to question the Bush administration's authority to capture American citizens on domestic soil and hold them as ``enemy combatants.''
Padilla, arrested in Chicago in 2002, was held without charges by the military for more than three years before being indicted in November on charges of supporting terrorists. His appeal accused President George W. Bush of overstepping his authority, usurping the proper roles of Congress and the courts.
``This assertion of authority is unprecedented, triggering weighty constitutional questions regarding separation of powers and individual rights,'' Padilla argued.
The decision not to hear the case, announced today in Washington, is a win for the Bush administration, which maneuvered to prevent high court review. The administration contends Congress approved detention of terrorists in 2001 when it authorized Bush to use force in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The government says Padilla was trained by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and sent to the U.S. on a mission to blow up apartment buildings. U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement said in court papers that Padilla's case is legally indistinguishable from that of Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was an American citizen when he was captured in Afghanistan with Taliban fighters in 2002.
The Supreme Court in 2004 said the military could hold Hamdi as an enemy combatant, as long as he received a hearing.
Foreign Battlefield
Padilla's appeal ``boils down to a claim that the government has less authority to detain an individual who eludes capture on the foreign battlefield and then comes to the United States intent on committing further warlike acts,'' Clement argued.
Padilla, whose appeal had the support of former Attorney General Janet Reno, says the capture of enemies on a foreign battlefield is a necessary aspect of war.
``By contrast, the indefinite military detention without trial of citizens seized in the United States because of suspected wrongdoing is far from a fundamental incident of waging war,'' he argued.
The Supreme Court previously agreed to consider whether the administration can use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects, including a man authorities say was Osama bin Laden's driver. The administration is now asking the high court to dismiss that dispute, saying a new law stripped the court of power to hear it.
Avoiding Review
The administration went to unusual lengths to try to keep the Padilla dispute out of the Supreme Court. After Padilla filed his appeal, prosecutors got an indictment, accusing him of conspiring to support terrorists overseas. Clement then told the high court that Padilla's case was moot because the government no longer needed to hold him as an enemy combatant.
The administration also asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, to set aside its ruling that let the military hold Padilla. Although that move would have taken away the basis for Padilla's Supreme Court petition, it also would have eliminated a precedent that could have helped the government in future cases.
The 4th Circuit later refused to let the administration move Padilla into civilian custody to face the criminal charges, questioning the government's motives. The Supreme Court eventually said Padilla could be transferred.
The criminal charges, filed in Miami, are different from the allegations the government used to justify enemy combatant status. When Padilla was arrested, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he was plotting to detonate a radioactive ``dirty bomb.''
The indictment doesn't mention that allegation or the government's later claim, repeated in its Supreme Court papers, that Padilla intended to blow up apartment buildings.
The case is Padilla v. Hanft, 05-533.
--
Powered by NewOrleansEmail.Com http://neworleansemail.com
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
[RobsList]
A progressive group that is part of http://robwire.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RobsList" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Robslist
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
