Thanatoast
Apr 29, 2004, 12:05 AM
link (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040429/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_enemy_combatants&cid=558&ncid=716)
Some choice paragraphs:
WASHINGTON - The war on terrorism gives the government power to seize Americans and hold them without charges for as long as it takes to ensure they are not a danger to the nation, the Bush administration told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Two-and-a-half years after the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks that killed thousands, the nation's highest court considered far-reaching questions about civil liberties, law and America's security in a changed world. By their words in court, a majority of justices seemed to give at least qualified support to the Bush administration.
"We've had war on our soil before, and never before in our nation's history has this court granted the president a blank check to do whatever he wants to American citizens," lawyer Jennifer Martinez argued on behalf of Padilla, a former gang member and alleged al-Qaida associate arrested at O'Hare Airport on suspicion of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb.
Representing the government in both cases Wednesday, Clement referred often to the congressional statute passed a week after the 2001 attacks that gave the president authority to use "necessary and appropriate" means to fight terrorism.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) worried that a broad reading of the language could give a president unlimited power.
"What is it that would be a check against torture?" she asked.
Clement said that a U.S. president wouldn't do that.
But "what's constraining? That's the point," Ginsburg replied. "Is it just up to the good will of the executive? Is there any judicial check?"
Clement responded a president should have the authority to use his military powers to fight terrorism, without "judicial micromanaging."
Judicial micromanaging? How about Presidential power-grabbing. Personally, and I know this counts for bupkis, I don't think *anyone* should be held without charges or access to the judicial system, regardless of their citizenship or where they happen to be on the face of the planet. Our legal system is built on certain values, and those values are supposed to be universal. The current administration is underminig the very principles they claim to be defending.
Some choice paragraphs:
WASHINGTON - The war on terrorism gives the government power to seize Americans and hold them without charges for as long as it takes to ensure they are not a danger to the nation, the Bush administration told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Two-and-a-half years after the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks that killed thousands, the nation's highest court considered far-reaching questions about civil liberties, law and America's security in a changed world. By their words in court, a majority of justices seemed to give at least qualified support to the Bush administration.
"We've had war on our soil before, and never before in our nation's history has this court granted the president a blank check to do whatever he wants to American citizens," lawyer Jennifer Martinez argued on behalf of Padilla, a former gang member and alleged al-Qaida associate arrested at O'Hare Airport on suspicion of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb.
Representing the government in both cases Wednesday, Clement referred often to the congressional statute passed a week after the 2001 attacks that gave the president authority to use "necessary and appropriate" means to fight terrorism.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) worried that a broad reading of the language could give a president unlimited power.
"What is it that would be a check against torture?" she asked.
Clement said that a U.S. president wouldn't do that.
But "what's constraining? That's the point," Ginsburg replied. "Is it just up to the good will of the executive? Is there any judicial check?"
Clement responded a president should have the authority to use his military powers to fight terrorism, without "judicial micromanaging."
Judicial micromanaging? How about Presidential power-grabbing. Personally, and I know this counts for bupkis, I don't think *anyone* should be held without charges or access to the judicial system, regardless of their citizenship or where they happen to be on the face of the planet. Our legal system is built on certain values, and those values are supposed to be universal. The current administration is underminig the very principles they claim to be defending.
