Split Supreme Court Ducks A Decision on Padilla Case
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON – A divided Supreme Court turned back a challenge to the Bush administration’s wartime detention powers, rejecting an appeal from American citizen Jose Padilla who had been held as an enemy combatant without legal rights.
Chief Justice Roberts and two others signaled concerns about the government’s handling of Padilla and said they would be watching to ensure he receives the protections “guaranteed to all federal criminal defendants.”
Three other justices wanted the court to consider immediately whether President Bush overstepped his authority by ordering Padilla’s detention.
Padilla, 35, had become a symbol of the administration’s pursuit of terror suspects after September 11, 2001.
The former Chicago gang member and convert to Islam was held in a military prison as an alleged enemy combatant for three and a half years, part of that time without access to lawyers.
His supporters wanted the Supreme Court to use his case to declare that Americans cannot be arrested on American soil and held incommunicado.
Justices appeared poised to do that, but with Padilla’s appeal pending the government abruptly changed its strategy. Prosecutors brought criminal charges in Florida last fall, and now Padilla has what his lawyers sought all along, traditional legal rights as part of the federal court system. Padilla’s first court appearance was in January.
What was surprising was the alliance of Justice Roberts, moderate Justice Kennedy, and liberal Justice Stevens.
“In light of the previous changes in his custody status and the fact that nearly four years have passed since he first was detained, Padilla, it must be acknowledged, has a continuing concern that his status might be altered again,” Justice Kennedy wrote for the three. “That concern, however, can be addressed if the necessity arises.”
Padilla was arrested in 2002 after a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The government alleged he had returned to detonate a “dirty bomb” in America.
The criminal charges do not match that claim. He is accused of being part of a terror support cell that provided recruits, money and supplies to Islamic extremists. He has pleaded not guilty and is to be tried in September.
Three justices said yesterday the court should have agreed to take up the case over the detention: Justices Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer.
