"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/4240038/detail.html

"If the law in its current state is found by the president to be
insufficient to protect this country from terrorist plots, such as the one
alleged here, then the president should prevail upon Congress to remedy
the problem," he wrote.


Floyd wrote that, in essence, "the detention of a United States citizen by
the military is disallowed without explicit Congressional authorization."



This was shrewd move by a Bush appointee to spark Congress into enacting
legislation that will give the President the necessary powers. Floyd knew
of course that this case will be appealed to a US Court of Appeals...so he
Padilla ain't gonna see the light of day anytime soon.



"To do otherwise would not only offend the rule of law and violate this
country’s constitutional tradition, but it would also be a betrayal of
this nation’s commitment to the separation of powers that safeguards our
democratic values and individual liberties," he wrote.



"For the court to find for (the U.S. government) would also be to engage
in judicial activism. This court sits to interpret the law as it is and
not as the court might wish it to be.

Good. He gets it. Activist judges are a bad thing. Ruling for the
government would have usurped the power of Congress.




Pursuant to its interpretation, the court finds that the president has no
power, neither express nor implied, neither constitutional nor statutory,
to hold (Padilla) as an enemy combatant," Floyd wrote.


Big deal. If the government loses on appeal, they'll deem him an unlawful
combatant...and a whole new round of court appeals will begin. Iran will be
a Democracy by the time Padilla gets out of jail. Of course, we could
always send him to Jordan or Saudi Arabia for some softening up.


As a result, Floyd ordered that Padilla be released within 45 days.

The government is expected to appeal the decision.


No kidding.

Just when the neo-cons think they're making progress in converting
America to a nation that will be more easily controlled (by neo-cons,
of course), some "activist judge" steps forward with the Constitution
and some quaint, old-fashioned, idea that political expediency doesn't
usurp legal principles about due process, (including the right to a
fair and speedy trial).

Whatever Padilla might have done, it could not possibly damage the
country any more than adopting a policy under which the government
locks people up simply because the government thinks they might be
guilty and if the government decides it can't find or manufacture
enough evidence to prevail in court the "suspect" is then left to rot
in jail, without trial, for the rest of his life.

Gulag justice has no place in a free society.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Just when the neo-cons think they're making progress in converting
America to a nation that will be more easily controlled (by neo-cons,
of course), some "activist judge" steps forward

You obviously didn't read the decision. The judge in question didn't try to
rewrite the law. In fact, he specifically said that granting the President
the power to detain a US citizen without due process is something that only
Congress could do...*not* activist judges.