Jose Padilla is an US citizen

August 19, 2002 7:33 PM

Jose Padilla is an US citizen being held without any rights granted to US citizens. And now the AG thinks he's a small fish will they let him go or give him a trial? Or will the government just keep him?
posted by elwoodwiles (8 comments total)

Padilla, 31, is being held in a military brig in South Carolina as an enemy combatant, a legal designation allowing the government to jail him without formal criminal charges

They might let him out after there is complete victory in the War on Terrorism. I'm sure he's no angel but he is an American citizen and should be afforded his Constitutional rights. Then again, the PATRIOT act makes exceptions for enemy combatants.
posted by birdherder at 8:48 PM on August 19, 2002

It disgusts me that John Ashcroft and G.W. and all their buddies have so little faith in the Constitution. If the US Constitution is stong and good, then even the most heinous criminal could be prosecuted under it and justice would be done. Barbara Jordan, where are you when we need you.
posted by chipr at 8:57 PM on August 19, 2002

elwood, you are SO misinformed. First of all, we only have rights because the government is gracious enough to give them to us. We should be grateful we have any at all! Clearly, the authorities are wiser than us, and they have ascertained that taking away Jose's rights will make us all a little bit safer? Don't you think it's worth it? You don't? Careful, we can take YOUR rights away too.
posted by insomnyuk at 9:03 PM on August 19, 2002

And now the AG thinks he's a small fish

According to the article it's the unnamed law enforcement officials who think he's a "small fish." Ashcroft would never admit to such a mistake especially after his public annoucement of having "disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot."

Or will the government just keep him?

Maybe they'll send him to camp.
posted by homunculus at 9:17 PM on August 19, 2002

Ashcroft and Padilla are both straw men at this point. Now if someone would just light the match.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:57 PM on August 19, 2002

more on the little fish we are spending millions to catch
posted by specialk420 at 11:05 PM on August 19, 2002

Not to quibble, but the USA PATRIOT act makes no reference to enemy combatants. In fact, the administration's argument regarding Hamdi, Padilla, et al. is a suspension of habeas corpus under the Constitution pursuant to the authorization of force resolution last September. There's a bunch more procedural hoo-hah they're throwing back at the courts, but this is the heart, and it's not clear the extent to which it will be upheld. There are precedents, dubious though they may be, in prior cases; the present court will likely give those precedents great weight when these cases reach them, as they almost certainly will.
posted by dhartung at 5:40 AM on August 20, 2002

I can't wait to cast my vote at the next election.
posted by Yossarian at 6:02 AM on August 20, 2002