Conservative 4th Circuit smacks Bush administration around

December 22, 2005

The legal background on alleged “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla is a long and bizarre tale. It’s important, though, particularly after yesterday.

Padilla, an American citizen, was first “arrested” in Chicago in May 2002 under suspicion that he was involved with a plan to detonate a radiological “dirty bomb.” Padilla was named an enemy combatant in the war on terror, which meant, as far as the administration was concerned, that he had no right to counsel and could be held indefinitely without being charged with a crime. His case ultimately went to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals — the most conservative court in the nation — which ruled in the Bush administration’s favor. Padilla, the 4th Circuit said, could be held however the administration wanted.

As Kevin Drum explained well last night, Padilla could appeal to the Supreme Court, where the Bush administration believed it was likely to lose. To avoid that embarrassing setback, the government asked the 4th Circuit to reverse itself. The appeals court was not amused.

A federal appeals court yesterday refused to authorize the transfer of “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla to face new criminal charges, issuing a strongly worded opinion rebuking the Bush administration and its handling of the high-profile terrorism case.

The same court that had granted the administration wide latitude in holding Padilla without charges or a court appearance now is suggesting that the detention was a mistake. As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said prosecutors could not take custody of Padilla from the military and take him to Miami, where he now faces indictment on terrorism charges.

The court didn’t just rule against the Bush administration; it scolded the administration for playing fast and loose with the law and judicial process. What’s more, the ruling was written by Michael Luttig, one of the most conservative judges on the federal bench and someone long rumored to be on Bush’s short list for the Supreme Court. In other words, even a towering far-right jurist is sick of the Bush administration’s nonsense.

The ruling, as appeals court decisions go, is surprisingly hard-hitting. The most conservative circuit in the country effectively accused the administration of misrepresentation.

The ruling is here; Kevin has a solid summary here; and be sure to read Lyle Denniston’s analysis here. Fascinating stuff.

What a fantastic example of how these tinpot dirtballs see the world. Shrubhead needs to complete the picture with some sunglasses, a military uniform and maybe a shotgun blast or two from the steps of the capitol. I sure hope people are getting their fill of Shrubworld. They are wasting everything they touch or even contemplate.

  • Boy, when it rains it poors. Can these guys do anything right? I am almost as overwhelmed by the long string of screw-ups that have been draged (kicking and screaming) into the light over the past year as I was at the first four years of letting Bush do whatever he pleased.

    I am wondering if Bush and his lot are going to experience death by 1,000 paper cuts as opposed to a nice humane lethal injection. Frankly, either way is fine with me.

  • The probability of Luttig getting a seat on the Supreme Court shrank down to near nothing when Alito was nominated. A political machine has two ways to keep its minions in line: the carrot and the stick. With judges the stick isn’t available; they can rant and rave, like DeLay does about courts, but in the end there really isn’t much they can do. With no more vacancies on the Court likely there aren’t any carrots left in the bag. Under these conditions Luttig doesn’t have to kiss up any more. He may still have arrived at the same conclusion in this case had he still been campaigning for the seat, but I think his language would have been far more guarded

  • This is Nature’s revenge on Bush for appointing nothing but incompetent toadies to virtually every position in government. When the chips are down, they’re just not good enough to do their jobs. Plus the web of deceit they’ve been weaving for years is finally blowing up in their faces. Poetic justice, if you ask me.

    Poor George. 🙁

  • From the ruling:

    If the government were concerned about losing in the Supreme Court, the tactic must be seen as a deliberate attempt to avoid review at that level. It is not up to the government, the panel said, to decide by which judicial forum it would be bound.

    If the government were concerned that it could not bring criminal charges for the kind of conduct that led to the “combatant” designation because that evidence may have been coerced from Padilla, that is irrelevant to the case now in the Supreme Court, the panel said. The government, it said, could have put that concern before a court further examining the basis for Padilla’s “combatant” status.

    The goverment, those two judges said, might have legitimate reasons for what it has done recently about Padilla. But the government, they repeated, has given no explanation.

    The “government”….. has given no explanation. The “government” would like to switch courts. But the “government” really doesn’t want to explain why. Now I wonder why the F**K that is?

    Worst – “government” – ever!

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