From the Washington Post:
Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held without charges for more than three years on suspicion of plotting a “dirty bomb” attack in this country, has been indicted on three counts alleging he conspired to “murder, maim and kidnap” people overseas.
The indictment naming Padilla and four others was unsealed Tuesday after being returned last week by a federal grand jury in Miami. While the charges allege Padilla was part of a U.S.-based terrorism conspiracy, they do not include the government’s earlier allegations that he planned to carry out attacks in America.
Gonzales Announces Charges Against Padilla
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces that Jose Padilla will be charged with terrorism related crimes in a news conference on Tuesday.
“The indictment alleges that Padilla traveled overseas to train as a terrorist with the intention of fighting a violent jihad,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference. Gonzales declined to comment on why none of the allegations involving attacks in America were included in the indictment.
Padilla, a Brooklyn-born Muslim convert, had been held as an “enemy combatant” in Defense Department custody. The Bush administration had resisted calls to charge and try him in civilian courts.
With the indictment, Padilla will be transferred from military custody to the Justice Department. Gonzales said the case would go to trial in September of 2006. Padilla faces life in prison if convicted on the three charges _ one count each of conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap people overseas, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy.
The indictment avoids a Supreme Court showdown over how long the government may hold a U.S. citizen without charges.
“They’re avoiding what the Supreme Court would say about American citizens. That’s an issue the administration did not want to face,” said Scott Silliman, a Duke University law professor who specializes in national security. “There’s no way that the Supreme Court would have ducked this issue.”
Padilla’s lawyers had asked justices to review his case last month, and the Bush administration was facing a deadline next Monday for filing its legal arguments.
Well then. How convenient.
Ultimately, the courts are going to have to decide how much latitude the Constitution grants the executive branch for detaining home-grown enemy combatants; but for the time being, the Bushies have bought themselves some more time.
Will an Alito appointment move the court on this issue? Dunno. But if I remember correctly, one of the arguments supporters of Harriet Miers’ nomination made was that she was likely to go the administration’s way on such wartime powers.
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More, from Andrew McCarthy.
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update: More from Volokh and Counterterrorism Blog (h/t Glenn)
I question the timing.
Sincerely,
John Kerry
Fry him…………….
The SCOTUS vote wouldn’t have been close enough for Alito’s vote to matter.
I’ve never understood the way the government handled this case. They had no trouble prosecuting Jihad Johnny Walker in American courts, even though he wasn’t picked up on American soil. With Padilla it was never clear why they were just holding onto him without specific charges being filed, nor was it clear what they were ultimately going to do with him. If they have evidence against him then they should charge him with treason or any number of things like they did with Sami al-Arian in Florida. What was so different about this guy? I know there are concerns about revealing intelligence sources and methods that may have led to his capture, but there are usually ways around that. Padilla really helped give the moonbats ammo about people being “disappeared.” Not that it was necessarily a valid charge, but something about it didn’t make sense.
You’d think they would have cleaned him up for the indictment.
Ya know, we coulda got this indictment a lot sooner if we just tortured somebody, but nooooo….