The Real Verdict on Jose Padilla

August 17, 2007
The Real Verdict on Jose Padilla

The case challenging the constitutionality of Padilla's detention was in the federal courts for several years. It reached the Supreme Court in 2004, at which point the government finally allowed him to speak to a lawyer. But the high court did not review the merits; instead, it ruled on a technicality that the case should have been brought in South Carolina, not New York. Litigation continued and nearly reached the Supreme Court again in late 2005. By then, the administration had begun soft-pedaling the "dirty bomb" story, which it described as "loose talk" rather than an imminent plot. It put forward a new theory: Padilla was planning to blow up apartment buildings with natural gas. The government also argued that he could be detained as an "enemy combatant" because, it alleged, he had been in Afghanistan during the U.S. bombing campaign in late 2001.

Two business days before the government's brief was due in the Supreme Court, the administration switched tactics again. Fearful that the court would rule that a U.S. citizen arrested in the United States could not constitutionally be detained forever without criminal trial, the government announced that Padilla would be tried in a federal court in Miami. As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit noted, the government's actions made it appear that it was trying to evade Supreme Court review.

The charges brought in Miami contained none of the allegations about the dirty-bomb plot, the apartment buildings or even Padilla's presence in Afghanistan in late 2001. Instead, the government alleged that Padilla had conspired in the 1990s to provide support to overseas jihadists in Bosnia and Chechnya. Commentators called even this weaker case notably thin, but Padilla was found guilty.

The Founders rejected that kind of arbitrary and oppressive power. And the federal court in Florida has shown how weak the administration's case for abandoning the Constitution really is.

The Padilla Conviction

August 17, 2007
The Padilla Conviction

After all that, there was still some good news yesterday: a would-be terrorist will be going to jail. And the Bush administration was forced, grudgingly and only at the very end, to provide him with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Padilla fingerprints appear only on the front of the first page and back of the last page

May 17, 2007
Padilla fingerprints appear only on the front of the first page and back of the last page

Although the form was one of dozens found in a binder in late 2001, it wasn't analyzed for Padilla's fingerprints until August 2006, Morgan said. The fingerprints appear only on the front of the first page and back of the last page, possibly indicating that the form had been simply handed to Padilla at some point, defense lawyers say.

Also testifying Thursday was FBI translator Nancy Khouri, who said that whoever wrote the date on the form used a format most common in the United States — month/date/year — and identified himself as an American. The alias allegedly used by Padilla means "Abu Abdallah the Immigrant," she said.

Khouri also said the form appeared to be filled out be someone not particularly fluent in Arabic.

"It looks like a kid's handwriting," she said.

Padilla Ruled Competent to Stand Trial

February 28, 2007
Padilla Ruled Competent to Stand Trial

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. judge ruled that accused terrorism supporter Jose Padilla is mentally competent to stand trial, one of his defense lawyers said.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami rejected defense claims that Padilla was unable to assist in his defense, according to defense lawyer Andrew Patel. The defense had argued that Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, was abused during more than three years in military custody.

The government denies abusing Padilla, and a prosecutor argued earlier today, at the end of a four-day hearing, that his unwillingness to assist in his defense was a reasoned choice and that he should stand trial April 16 as planned.

Padilla was initially accused of plotting to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S. After his arrest in 2002, President George W. Bush declared him an "enemy combatant," which allowed authorities to hold him in military custody without charges. In November 2005, Padilla and four co- defendants were charged with supporting terrorists and conspiring to murder people in a foreign country.

A Trial for Thousands Denied Trial

February 22, 2007
A Trial for Thousands Denied Trial

Something remarkable is going on in a Miami courtroom. The cruel methods US interrogators have used since September 11 to "break" prisoners are finally being put on trial.

This was not supposed to happen. The Bush Administration's plan was to put José Padilla on trial for allegedly being part of a network linked to international terrorists. But Padilla's lawyers are arguing that he is not fit to stand trial because he has been driven insane by the government.

There is no need to go so far back to prove that the US military knew full well that it was driving Padilla mad. The Army's field manual, reissued just last year, states, "Sensory deprivation may result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression, and anti-social behavior," as well as "significant psychological distress."

If these techniques drove Padilla insane, that means the US government has been deliberately driving hundreds, possibly thousands, of prisoners insane around the world. What is on trial in Florida is not one man's mental state. It is the whole system of US psychological torture.