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Judge Grants Padilla Access to Lawyer
Morphine007 writes "A judge has ordered that Jose Padilla be allowed to see his lawyer, and all I can say is it's about fscking time, I especially like the quote: "Lest any confusion remain, this is not a suggestion or a request that Padilla be permitted to consult with counsel, and it is certainly not an invitation to conduct further 'dialogue' about whether he is permitted to do so.""
The problem with that argument is that it has also been the law of the land, since the earliest days of this republic, that prisoners of war are not criminal suspects, but fall in a different category.
This includes enemy soldiers acting within the United States, even if they legally have citizenship. As early as the Jefferson and Madison administrations, this fact was used to detain port saboteurs working in the service of the French government.
So this is not a new practice, and indeed, it is a practice which the Supreme Court has upheld for two centuries. This most recently came to the test during World War II, when a team of German saboteurs were landed from Submarine on Long Island, with a mission to plant bombs in power plants, industrial centers, and Jewish-owned businesses. They were caught, and held as prisoners of war, and the Supreme Court was asked to review this detention, as one of those caught was a US citizen who had travelled to Germany in the thirties in order to join the SS.
The Supreme Court ruled that their detention was lawful, as their intention to commit acts of war against the US made them enemy combatants, not criminal suspects. You can find more information on the case, named Ex Parte Quirin, including a transcript of the court's ruling in this journal entry.
So in short, this is not, as you suggest, a new practice, nor is it, as you also suggest, against the intent of the Constitution (something that Madison, who employed the practice himself as president, presumably knew a thing or two about).
Oh wait. Since we're fighting the "war on terrorism" the world is our battlefield, and ANYONE can be accused of terrorism and summarily stripped of their rights as a US citizen (completely arbitrarily I might add, given that John Walker Lindh who WAS found on a goddamn battlefield was given full constitutional rights to legal representation etc...but wait, Pedillo or whatever else you wanna call him isn't a White Suburban Boy with Parents Who Have Money to Fight for Him!).
No potential for abuse there at all....
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
This man lost his rights as a US citizen when he traveled overseas and conspired with a foreign government to harm the United States. Read the fine print on your passport sometime. You can have your citizenship revoked for such actions. He is an enemy in a foriegn army. As such, it is appropriate for him to be tried by the military.
There is some very damning evidence that this piece of shit wanted to detonate a radiological device on our soil. This isn't "Free Kevin" time here. He's a fucking terrorist. And if he succeeded in doing what he intended, if my two little girls were dying of radiation poisoning, at least Morphine007 can sleep well that he wasn't denied due process.
For fuck's sake, can we get real about the fact this is a war?