What about civil rights?
WASHINGTON, September 9 – Today a federal court in Richmond, Va, upheld the authority of the President to detain any suspected terrorist indefinitely without a trial or any other form of hearing. This authorization, formally known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution was invoked after 9/11 to reduce terrorist threat and give the federal government more tools to work with after the disaster that shook the nation.
Reason for this case was an appeal by Jose Padilla, arrested as an alleged “dirty-bomber” and held in detention since then. Besides lengthy sessions to acquire intelligence from this man he has had no chance to defend himself at a trial. Many believe this intrudes the most basic civil rights of freedom and innocence. Bush however managed to get a win at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which backs him in his efforts to secretly capture Taliban and Al-Qaeda members and interrogating them for intelligence.
Juicy detail in this case is that the judge who wrote the ruling after unanimously being reached was Michael Luttig, by many tipped as one of the main judges to fill the vacancy for associate judge in the Supreme Court.
