After five years, charges against Padilla peter out

[babylonsister]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070515.wpadilla15/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070515.wpadilla15

After five years, charges against Padilla peter out

PAUL KORING

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

May 15, 2007 at 6:32 AM EDT

snip//

But it is not just Mr. Padilla on trial.

The case has attracted international attention and is regarded by many legal scholars as a test of whether the U.S. justice system will finally show itself capable of dealing with trials in a fashion more consistent with traditional legal standards.

Mr. Padilla's unprecedented detention as a enemy combatant nearly reached the Supreme Court although the Justice Department avoided any decision by agreeing to move the case to civilian courts. He spent three years without being formally charged and his interrogation is widely seen as having violated his constitutional rights, including the right to have a lawyer and remain silent.

The government has admitted that most of the evidence collected, including the dirty-bomb allegations, may have been extracted from other alleged al-Qaeda operatives who claimed they were tortured and thus is inadmissible.

"At stake in this case is nothing less than the essence of a free society," wrote U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in comments on the Padilla case.

"Unconstrained executive detention for the purpose of investigating and preventing subversive activity is the hallmark of the star chamber."

[lynnertic]

1. help me please, what's the "star chamber" Justice Stevens wrote about?

"At stake in this case is nothing less than the essence of a free society," wrote U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in comments on the Padilla case.

"Unconstrained executive detention for the purpose of investigating and preventing subversive activity is the hallmark of the star chamber."

[merh]

3. here ya go

The Star Chamber (Latin Camera stellata) was an English court of law at the royal Palace of Westminster that sat between 1487 and 1641, when the court itself was abolished. Its primary purpose was to hear political libel and treason cases.

In modern usage, legal or administrative bodies with strict, arbitrary rulings and secretive proceedings are sometimes called, metaphorically or poetically, star chambers. This is a pejorative term and intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings. The inherent lack of objectivity of any politically motivated charges has led to substantial reforms in English law in most jurisdictions since that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Chamber

[ATK]

2. let the guy go already...its downright ridiculous to continue this farce

of a case

[babylonsister]

5. I agree with that, and welcome to DU, ATK!

:hi: I've read reports that suggest he might even be braindamaged from the treatment he received at Gitmo, Tenet's assertions that we don't torture people notwithstanding. And how many more Padillas are out there?

[Laughing Mirror]

11. They've fried his brain and also his vision

Their unrelenting bright light torture burnt out the sensitivity in his eyes to the point that, according to reports on Democracy Now a few months ago, he now has to wear dark shades.

The judge at his trial may be a torturer too and may make him take off those protective shades as judgment is made.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Padilla will be found guilty and sentenced to life in prison

Never mind that he should be released immediately with time served. That's beside the point.

The federal government wants him in prison, so to prison he will go. This entire episode is a farce.

[KharmaTrain]

6. FDL Will Be Liveblogging...Or As Close To It They Can

Since Padilla was caught in Chicago, this story is getting a lot of local interest. Sadly, it's wrapped in years of booosh regime spin that long ago convicted this man. The sheeple have been long set up for this dude to pay the price for a national phobia/paranoia and a culture of fear that enables boooosh and his proxies to thumb their noses at reality or world opinion.

Somehow I get a feeling there's gonna be a plea bargain...just like the recent Australian case...just to flush this story away.

:hi:

[babylonsister]

7. Yes, I read about FDL yesterday; good deal. Thanks for the heads-up! nt

[freesqueeze]

8. This is a fascinating story

of a government gone bad.

Torture may be the worst way to get information...well that is if you care one flip about the information being accurate.

[slipslidingaway]

9. K&R n/t

[slipslidingaway]

10. Why Padilla is Not Irrelevant to You and Me

Older articles FWIW

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/11/23/917/59766

snip>>

"Lawyer Glenn Greenwald powerfully explains how the Padilla decision represents the true tyranny of the executive branch. He also ties the power grab into the upcoming Alito hearings.

The decision yesterday by the Administration to finally bring charges against U.S. citizen Jose Padilla -- who has been kept incarcerated in a military prison for three years solely on George Bush's order, in solitary confinement and indefinitely -- was done not in order to signal a retreat by the Administration with regard to its claimed right to imprison U.S. citizens without any judicial processes, but instead, to protect and solidify that power by ensuring that its patent unconstitutionality cannot be ruled upon by the U.S. Supreme Court in the pending Padilla case."

[BurtWorm]

12. If Padilla's acquitted, someone is going to sue on his behalf

and try to make it really, really hurt.

I don't know if I trust the justice system enough anymore to know if he will even be acquitted.