This'll be a short one, folks, but I just can't believe what I just stumbled across on
MSNBC. The truly Fundy Of All Fundy Judges, Michael Luttig, has REBUKED the Bush Admin for their treatment (non-treatment?) of Jose Padilla!
More....
From MSNBC breaking:
In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody.
The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to void a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil.
The decision, written by Judge Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3½ years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set to convince a grand jury in Florida to indict him last month.
Yeah, damn good question. But for LUTTIG to say this is just stunning. He's as conservative as they come. They simply don't get more fundemental and strict constructionist (whatever that means, exactly) than this guy...
How's this sound, Bush?:
Luttig said the administration has risked its "credibility before the courts" by appearing to use the indictment of Padilla to thwart an appeal of the appeals court's decision that gave the president wide berth in holding enemy combatants.
Well, Bush is two-fer-two in lacking credibility with courts, and in just two days! God, sometimes only the JUDGES make me feel like this country is still America. Yes, even the knuckledragger judges, it seems....
UPDATE:
Here are some much more useful links provided by a number of commenters below:
From the SCOTUSblog site
and the actual opinion itself