I can't help but notice the extent of security shown in media reports surrounding the case of Jose Padilla. While we are a country that expounds our freedom of representation and the opportunity for our day in court, what has the expense of prosecuting Padilla really done for the war on terraism?
I'm not an expert on legal issues by any means, and I have extreme concerns about the security of the country; the arrest of Jose Padilla may in all respects have prevented catastrophe. However, to the extent that the government made a show of the arrest, and the high level of charges made against Padilla, what exactly has come from it? The shuffle to reduce charges (to proceed with some form of prosecution: "An appeals court panel had all but called for the court to deal with the case, saying it was troubled by the Bush administration's change in legal strategy -- after holding Padilla more than three years without charges.") may end in a successful results in the eyes of the administration, but how stupid were the original charges?
Would it have made [much] more sense making charges that would have stuck, charges that could have simply applied and been implemented in a conviction and sentencing? It may have prevented the waste of time and energy on our courts, our government legal prosecutors, and the security required to protect/incarcerate Padilla, and freed up those resources for more approriate issues surrounding the security of the country. Another instance of misguided actions of our current government.
As it stands, todays supreme court decision does little; if a similar case is brought in front of the courts, it will require another round of discussion for a ruling. As with so many issues surrounding this administartion, nothing ever seems to come to an end.