Gov't Argues (Again) For Indefinite Detention of Citizens
by TChris
The United States government is still arguing that any citizen it labels an "enemy combatant" may be detained indefinitely. The government claims that Jose Padilla (TalkLeft coverage collected here) intended to activate a "dirty bomb" and to blow up apartment buildings in the United States. The reaction of Padilla's lawyers, arguing his case before the Fourth Circuit: prove it in court.
"I may be the first lawyer to stand here and say I'm asking for my client to be indicted by a federal grand jury," Padilla's lawyer, Andrew Patel, told the three-judge appeals panel.
It's strange to think that a U.S. citizen arrested on U.S. soil isn't entitled to the protection of the U.S. Constitution, but that's the claim our government, yet again, has advanced.
Judge J. Michael Luttig, who presided at the hearing, pressed Clement on whether the government was suggesting that the battlefield in the war on terror now includes the U.S. "I can say that. I can say it boldly," Clement said.
Padilla's case is making its second round through the appellate courts. Padilla prevailed in the Second Circuit, only to have the Supreme Court rule that Padilla should have sought a remedy in a different district.
Joining Luttig in hearing the case were Judges M. Blane Michael and William B. Traxler Jr. The court usually takes several weeks to rule.
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