Bush Administration Wins Appeal on Padilla

In a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the government can continue to hold indefinitely an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb.”

This decision is fully in line with long-standing precedent where US citizens who had been engaged as enemy combatants in WW-I and WW-II were held as POW’s without any access or recourse to the civilian judicial system. Any other outcome would also be insane from the viewpoint of national security.

“The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al-Qaida, an entity with which the United States is at war,” Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote. “We conclude that the President does possess such authority.”

This decision also happens to highlight a judge who may go to SCOTUS. This would be a welcome addition to them:

Luttig, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court, was joined in his opinion by Judges M. Blane Michael and William B. Traxler Jr.