We Have Always Been At War
Nov 24th, 2005 at 9:48 am by Susie
The Bush administration, determined not to yield any ground on the constitutional issues in the case of Jose Padilla , has indicated it may still hold the accused “enemy combatant� indefinitely—even if he is acquitted of the terrorist conspiracy charges he was indicted on this week.
Jonathan Freiman, a lawyer for Padilla, told NEWSWEEK that a senior lawyer in the Solicitor General’s office told him Wednesday that the government still asserts it has the power to hold his client—regardless of the outcome of the criminal case against him.
“I was told, ‘he’s still an enemy combatant according to the president and therefore they can still detain him at anytime,� Freiman said.
Freiman declined to identify which senior lawyer in the Solicitor General’s office made the assertion. The Justice Department’s director of public affairs, Tasia Scolinos, would not say today whether Padilla, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago, would be freed were he to be acquitted in the criminal case announced Tuesday by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “The prosecutors believe this is a very strong case,� she said when asked what would happen in the event of an acquittal. “We’re not going to talk about hypotheticals.�
This is called “lawyerly bluster.”
You really think they have the political support to hold this guy if he’s acquitted?
This abortion of justice is abhorred by liberals, conservatives, libertarians, originalists… everyone but Cheney and the fundies see the threat to the Constitution.
Once the DOJ has let him talk to counsel, they set in motion a process that they can no longer control: The media will be peppered with stories of this injustice.
We are not in 2004 anymore. The Bush regime has no real case, a hostile public, and judges that are no longer willing to defer. They are not even willing to mention “dirty bomb” anymore.
They’re in collapse. Don’t be fooled by the bluster.
Let us remember that the real battle here is not Jose Padilla. He is a spaceholder. It could be you, me, or Mrs. McGillicuddy in that cell. They would have found some American citizen somewhere to test this principle.
The battle is over Executive power: can they set a legal/political precedent wherein a sitting President can act above the law of the land?
If so, then the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and 800 years of Western common law — resting on the foundation stone of habeas corpus — is void.
The core principle is habeas corpus, which means in practice that every person charged with an illegal act MUST COME BEFORE A JUDGE RIGHT SOON TO HEAR THE CHARGES AND BEGIN THE TRIAL PROCESS.
Without that, we have King Louis all over again, and Executive Letters disappearing people.
If a sitting President has the authority to do this, then he can delegate it to the Ministry of Civil Order, or Homeland Security officers, or neighborhood watchers.
Either we all are subject to the law — oe none of us are.
This case is the whole fight.
Interesting that the Bush Administration is also claiming Padilla’s Supreme Court appeal was mooted by the criminal charges. Of course, all they really want to do is wait until they complete their “court-packing” scheme. If Alito gets on the Supremes, they hope to see an “anything goes in time of war” ruling. I hope they’re wrong…
Marvin Gaye said it best for me…They make me want to holler the way they do my life.