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Home Front: WoT
Supreme Court asked to transfer Padilla
2005-12-29
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to transfer American "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla from U.S. military custody to federal authorities in Florida -- one week after an appeals court refused a similar request.

In a filing to the high court, Solicitor General Paul Clement asked for Padilla's release so he can stand trial on charges of being part of a support cell providing money and recruits for militants overseas.

Padilla was indicted last month in Florida for conspiracy to murder and aiding terrorists abroad but the charges make no reference to accusations made by U.S. officials after his arrest in May 2002 that he plotted with al Qaeda to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States.

Last week, in a rebuke to the Bush administration, a U.S. appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, denied the Justice Department's request to approve his transfer from military to civilian custody.

The appeals court said the government's decision to bring criminal charges against Padilla after he had been held by the U.S. military for more than three years gave the impression the government was trying to avoid high court review of the case.

Clement told the Supreme Court that the appeals court had overstepped its authority and said the decision "defies both law and logic." "As a result of the court's order, Padilla remains in military custody even though the president has ordered that he be released from such custody ... and even though Padilla has consented to his release from military custody and transfer to civilian custody," he wrote.

The appeals court also rejected the government's request to set aside a September 9 ruling that allowed Padilla to be held as an "enemy combatant" without being charged. Wiping out that ruling would have made it virtually impossible for the Supreme Court to review the case.

The Supreme Court already is deciding whether it will review that ruling, which had been viewed as a key victory in the government's controversial policy of holding "enemy combatants" in prison for long periods of time without charging them with any crimes. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said the "enemy combatant" issue before the Supreme Court should be moot since Padilla has now been charged in civilian court.
I continue to be unhappy over this. He should never have been declared an enemy combatant. He's an American citizen; if he's providing material aid and comfort to an enemy and we have two bonafide witnesses to that, charge him with treason. If the evidence won't hold up then charge him with what will stick and get it in front of a jury. He'll either be convicted or, like Johnny Walker Lindh, cop a plea that will jug him properly and for a long time. But jugging him indefinitely in a military prison as a combatant is, in my mind, wrong -- a key benefit of citizenship is habeas corpus and civilian review. It's precisely why we have a treason law. Charge him.
Posted by:Steve White

#1  Or transfer him. Mid-Atlantic will do.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-12-29 18:15  

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