Not going anywhere for a while?

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond is about to take up the case of “unlawful combatant” and dirty bomber suspect Jose Padilla, with a hearing on Tuesday. You will recall our interview with one of Padilla’s attorney’s, Donna Newman, a few months back…
There’s not too much I can say about this case: the President contends he has the unilateral authority to detain any citizen on his sole say-so without judicial review or other oversight of any kind. I call that sort of thing “dictatorship”. To be honest, this case, involving a U.S. citizen picked up in the United States itself is even more troubling than the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision allowing the Gitmo military commissions to go on (see my American Street piece on the subject.)
This one’s the ball-game. Well, let’s see what the nation’s courts do with this one. In a word, let’s hope they don’t fuck it up.