[IP] BBC: * US judges take 'dirty bomb' case *
-----Original Message-----
From: bobr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2004 10:33:18
To:dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: BBC: * US judges take 'dirty bomb' case *
Dave
This just in from BBCi:
* US judges take 'dirty bomb' case *
The US Supreme Court says it will rule on a case which could limit government
powers in the war on terror.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/world/americas/3508149.stm
Full story below.
--
Bob Rosenberg,
?An informed public is the most potent of all restraints upon misgovernment.?
U. S. Supreme Court, Grosjean vs. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, 250 (1936)
I yearn for the day when eternal vigilance doesn't have to be quite so bloody
vigilant!
"Eternal Vigilance" is supposed to mean citizens watching their Governments,
not the other way around....
**********************************************
Last Updated: Saturday, 21 February, 2004, 02:34 GMT
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US judges take 'dirty bomb' case
The government says Padilla is a threat to national security
The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide if the president can order the
indefinite detention of US citizens in the administration's war on terror.
Lawyers for Jose Padilla - who has been held without charge for nearly two years
- say he has been denied his right to a fair trial.
Mr Padilla was arrested in Chicago in May 2002 on suspicion of planning to set
off a "dirty bomb".
The court's ruling could set limits on US prosecution of its "war on terror".
The Supreme Court had already agreed to look into the case of Yaser Esam Hamdi,
another US citizen held without charge after being seized in Afghanistan and
declared an "enemy combatant".
Because the president said 'I think you're a bad man', he's been in jail for two
years
Andrew Patel,
Lawyer for Jose Padilla
By hearing both cases, the court could decide at the same time the rights of US
citizens who have been captured abroad, like Mr Hamdi, and those seized at home,
like Mr Padilla.
The top court has also said it will address another case related to Mr Bush's
warn on terror and will decide whether foreigners captured abroad can go to US
courts to challenge their incarceration at the military base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.
All of the cases surrounding the government's anti-terror policies are expected
to be argued at the end of April, with rulings due by the end of June.
Rights 'violated'
The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington say the Supreme Court's decision the cases
has gone some way towards satisfying critics of the Bush administration.
Opponents want a comprehensive examination of the legal and constitutional
rights of people caught up in the president's war on terrorism, our
correspondent reports.
The president's authority to designate individuals as enemy combatants is a
vital part of the war on terrorism
John Ashcroft,
US Attorney General
One of Mr Padilla's attorneys, Andrew Patel, said his client's rights had been
ignored after he was accused of planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" - the name
given to a device which spreads radioactive material using conventional
explosives.
"Because the president said 'I think you're a bad man', he's been in jail for
two years," Mr Patel said of Mr Padilla.
"He hasn't had a chance to defend himself. That's not the way we do things in
this country, when we're at war or when we're at peace."
Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a statement saying that it was in the
national interest to designate Mr Padilla as an "enemy combatant" as it had been
determined that he was a grave danger to security.
He accused Mr Padilla of having close ties to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda
network, blamed for the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US and said he welcomed
the Supreme Court's decision to judge the case.
"The president's authority to designate individuals as enemy combatants is a
vital part of the war on terrorism. The court's action today provides an
opportunity to reaffirm this critical authority," he said.
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