Most of us are aware by now of the case of American citizen Jose Padilla, the treatment he received over the past few years while in both military and civilian custody, and the subsequent guilty verdict he recently received which may give him a life sentence but is now under appeal.
Regardless of how his trials eventually come out, it sometimes occurs to me: doesn't he have some kind of civil case he could make against the U.S. government for his horrific treatment? My uninformed guess would be that a multi-million dollar settlement would be very likely once all the facts are out. And I think it would be important to bring all the information out if only to prevent another such incident of what could well be defined as torture of a U.S. citizen by the federal government.
And is such a case in the works? I have't heard.
I would like to hear any legal opinions.