A federal appeals court ruled today that the president can indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil in the absence of criminal charges, holding that such authority is vital during wartime to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit came in the case of Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who was arrested in Chicago in 2002 and designated an "enemy combatant" by President Bush. The government contends that Padilla trained at Al Qaeda camps and was planning to blow up apartment buildings in the United States.
Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has been held without trial in a U.S. naval brig for more than three years, and his case triggered a legal battle with vast implications for civil liberties and the fight against terrorism.
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Presidents have always had the right to suspect certain legal rights during wartime. What's new here is that wartime has been defined so broadly that it can be exploited for political purposes. I shudder to think what a President like Bush will do in the future when he's backed against a wall. Already Bush ocnveniently invokes secrecy to cover evidence of wrong doing when his cronies' actions are questioned in court. Bush believes the President is above the law. What will follow?
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