[ql06] CONSTITUTIONAL: US Homeland Now a Battlefield
- From: Stephen Kennedy <2srk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 19:50:47 -0500
Ashcroft's Department of (In)Justice is now arguing that so-called "dirty
bomber" Jose Padilla can be held indefinitely without charges because he was
arrested on the battlefield, and military law applies there.
Wait a minute you say. Padilla is a US-born citizen arrested in the US. How
can that be?
Read on.
Published on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 by Newsday / Long Island, NY
'Battlefield' Arrest Makes Mockery of Constitution
Editorial
Who does George W. Bush say gave him the power to lock up U.S. citizens
without charges or access to lawyers, family or court? Al-Qaida, he says, and
a mirage of a nod from Congress.
That's ludicrous. But here's the logic, as presented last week by
administration lawyers who argued before an appeals court in Manhattan that
it is permissible to hold so-called dirty bomber Jose Padilla indefinitely in
a military brig after branding him an "enemy combatant."
On Sept. 11, 2001, "al-Qaida made the battlefield the United States and the
evidence indicates that they're trying to make it the battlefield again,"
said Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement. And if it's a "battlefield"
arrest, Bush can detain anyone alleged to be in league with terrorists,
including citizens, for as long as it takes to gather intelligence and deter
future attacks. "This is the way it's been done for 200 years in military
justice," Clement said.
Fortunately, two of the three judges seemed taken aback by the audacity of
that assertion. Judge Barrington Parker Jr. said the power Bush seeks from
the court is "breathtaking in its sweep." He's right: The president can not
substitute military justice for civil law. The Constitution gives that power
to Congress. Clement said Congress did just that in the resolution
authorizing Bush to use force in Afghanistan and to prevent future attacks.
But no act of Congress contained the words "enemy combatant."
Brooklyn-born Padilla was taken into custody in Chicago in May, 2002.
Officials said he'd met with al-Qaida members abroad and discussed
detonating, in the United States, a conventional bomb rigged to disperse
radiation. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said at the time that
there was no actual plot, "beyond some fairly loose talk." Still, Padilla has
been in a military brig for 18 months.
Lawyers arguing on his behalf said Padilla, like any citizen, has the right
to a lawyer and an opportunity to challenge the life-altering enemy-combatant
designation. The court didn't say when it will rule. But Judge Rosemary
Pooler was clear on one critical point: "As terrible as 9/11 was, it didn't
repeal the Constitution." It's a message Bush should heed.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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