Bush Administration Wins Appeal on Padilla

[bloom]

Friday September 9, 2005 8:46 PM


AP Photo NY116

By KRISTEN GELINEAU

Associated Press Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - In a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the government can continue to hold indefinitely an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive ``dirty bomb.''

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to reverse a judge's order that the government either charge or free Jose Padilla, who has been in custody for more than three years.

``The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al-Qaida, an entity with which the United States is at war,'' Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote. ``We conclude that the President does possess such authority.''

A federal judge in South Carolina ruled in February that the government cannot hold Padilla indefinitely as an ``enemy combatant,'' a designation President Bush gave him in 2002. The government views Padilla as a militant who planned attacks on the United States.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5267266,00.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. A slippery slope

What would keep Bush from calling anyone he wanted an "enemy combatant" and have them locked up, never to be heard from again?

[mmonk]

2. The boy who

would be king. Same name, same power as a previous ruler.

[Zynx]

3. That's a moronic ruling. You can't be "at war" with something like AQ