Constitution? What Constitution?

[Eric Cordian]

There's no civil liberty or Constitutional guarantee the President
can't violate, as long as he mentions "protecting the nation
from terrorism" while trying to justify it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090900772.html

-----

A federal appeals court ruled today that the president can
indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil in the
absence of criminal charges, holding that such authority is vital to
protect the nation from terrorist attacks.

[Oh look.  It's the magic "t" word.]]

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit came in
the case of Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who was
arrested in Chicago in 2002 and designated an "enemy combatant" by
President Bush. The government contends that Padilla trained at al
Qaeda camps and was planning to blow up apartment buildings in the
United States.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has been held without trial in a U.S. naval
brig for more than three years, and his case triggered a legal battle
with vast implications for civil liberties and the fight against
terrorism.

Attorneys for Padilla and a host of civil liberties organizations
blasted the detention as illegal and said it could lead to the
military being allowed to hold anyone, from protesters to people who
check out what the government considers the wrong books from the
library.

Federal prosecutors asserted that Bush not only had the authority to
order Padilla's detention but that such power is essential to
preventing attacks. In its ruling today, the 4th Circuit overturned a
lower court and came down squarely on the government's side.

...


Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"