Padilla court ruling threatens our rights

A federal appeals court panel on Friday sided with the Bush administration and concluded the president has the authority to detain a U.S. citizen because of his alleged terrorist ties.

The 3-0 ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned the previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd of Spartanburg, S.C., who held last March that the federal government cannot hold Jose Padilla indefinitely as an "enemy combatant," a designation President Bush gave him in 2002.

Judge Floyd said the government had to charge him with something or release him.

We hold no great sympathy for Padilla, but we do believe that he - like any American citizen - deserves his day in court. The appeals court got that wrong when they decided he didn't. <snip>

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2005/09/12/opinion/iq_3678432.txt

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Sadly, the appeals court ruling says the government allegations - which have already proven suspect on the "dirty bomb" issue - are all the proof needed to hold Padilla or any U.S. citizen.

As appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote Friday, "Padilla, after all, in addition to supporting hostile forces in Afghanistan and taking up arms against our troops on a battlefield in that country ... also came to the United States in order to commit future acts of terrorism against U.S. citizens and targets."

Excuse us, judge, but those are the government allegations ... they need to be proven in a court of law.

By ruling that Padilla can be held indefinitely without getting a chance to face his accusers in court, the appeals panel is undermining the basic constitutional protections of every American.

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