|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Bush Administration Attempts to Keep Supreme Court From Hearing “Dirty Bomb” Suspect’s Case
The Supreme Court should not review the Bush administration’s decision to jail a U.S. citizen identified as an enemy combatant indefinitely without charge, administration officials argued Friday before a federal appeals court (see GSN, Nov. 23). The appellate court ruling that had allowed Jose Padilla to remain imprisoned now irrelevant because the “dirty bomb” suspect has been charged, the administration argued. Padilla is accused of supplying funding and recruits for terrorism; no charges have been filed related to his once-alleged intent to detonate a radiological weapon in the United States. The White House hopes to avoid a Supreme Court decision on whether hundreds of suspected terrorists now in U.S. custody can remain held indefinitely as enemy combatants “Narrowing the charges would avoid sensitive evidentiary issues that may implicate core national security concerns and constitutional issues,” the Justice Department also said in its filing. Padilla’s lawyers have argued that a Supreme Court review of the case is necessary because the government could reinstate their client’s designation as an enemy combatant at any time, Knight Ridder reported. The Justice Department said in its filing that Padilla was “unlikely” to again be designated as an enemy combatant. Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), said he was mounting a “formal inquiry” into Justice Department methods in the Padilla case (Frank Davies, Knight Ridder/Contra Costa Times, Dec. 10)
| ||||||||||
Back to top
