Federal Court: U.S. Citizen CAN'T be Prosecuted as "Enemy Combatant"

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Federal Court: U.S. Citizen CAN'T be Prosecuted as "Enemy Combatant"

Posted: 12/18/2003 8:30:15 AM EDT

If you can look past the fact that this guy is a POS, you will realize that this is a good ruling...

www.msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3748660&p1

BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
Updated: 11:45 a.m. ET Dec. 18, 2003

NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain an American citizen seized on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday in a decision that could force a man held in a "dirty bomb" plot to be tried in civilian courts.

advertisementIn a 2-to-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the detention of Jose Padilla was not authorized by Congress and that Bush could not designate Padilla as an enemy combatant without the authorization.

Padilla is accused of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb," which uses conventional explosives to disperse radioactive materials. The former Chicago gang member was arrested in May 2002 and within days was moved to a naval brig in Charleston, S.C.

"As this court sits only a short distance from where the World Trade Center stood, we are as keenly aware as anyone of the threat al-Qaida poses to our country and of the responsibilities the president and law enforcement officials bear for protecting the nation," the court said.

"But presidential authority does not exist in a vacuum, and this case involves not whether those responsibilities should be aggressively pursued, but whether the president is obligated, in the circumstances presented here, to share them with Congress," it added.

The court directed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to release Padilla from military custody within 30 days, but said the government was free to transfer him to civilian authorities who can bring criminal charges.

If appropriate, Padilla can also be held as a material witness in connection with grand jury proceedings, the court said.

In its ruling, the court said it was not addressing the detention of any U.S. citizens seized within a combat zone in Afghanistan.

Posted: 12/18/2003 8:33:45 AM EDT

[#1]

The 'fair weather' friends of the constitution (like O'Reilley) are going to be wigging out...

I agree that it is a good decision. Some people just don't understand that freedom (including the right to bear arms) has some unfortunate consequences, and we must endure them as a cost of liberty.

Posted: 12/18/2003 8:42:21 AM EDT

[#2]

Good decision. This should take care of the hand wringing of the DUers. They've been laying awake wondering if they were going to 'disappear' and spend the rest of their lives at Gitmo.
OTOH, whatever scares the DUers can't be an entirely bad thing [:D]

Posted: 12/18/2003 10:42:07 AM EDT

[#3]

It was 2 to 1 on a very high profile point, and they stayed their own decision for 30 days. This case is going to go en banc (to the entire circuit), if not to the Supreme Court right off the bat.

Posted: 12/18/2003 10:50:00 AM EDT

[#4]

Duplicate thread

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=219427[/url] this thread is already at two pages

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Federal Court: U.S. Citizen CAN'T be Prosecuted as "Enemy Combatant"

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