Do Judges Even Read the Constitution Anymore?
On May 8th, 2002, Jose Padilla (known also as Abdullah al-Muhajir) was arrested at O’Hare Airport in Chicago on suspicion of plans to make and detonate a dirty bomb. Since that time, he has been kept in Federal custody (a large part of it on a naval base in Charleston, SC) with very limited access to a lawyer and no formal charges having been levied against him. I’m sure a number of people out there who are thinking, on the surface, that this is all well and good, especially when it’s mentioned that he has Al-Qaeda ties.
There’s only one small problem with that, however. Jose Padilla is a United States citizen who never, in any fashion that’s been shown, renounced his US Citizenship.
To a three-man panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, that doesn’t seem to matter, however. This past week, they ruled that the United States could hold him indefinitely without charging him because he’s a terrorism suspect.
There are two main portions of the Constitution, notably in the Bill of Rights, that make me want to ask these judges just what in the hell were they thinking. First and foremost is the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The first clause of it reads as follows: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;
1) Jose Padilla is essentially being held under suspicion of plotting to commit various capital crimes, if not outright treason.
2) He is not a member of the Armed Forces.
3) He is not a member of the National Guard or the Reserve Armed Forces.
Therefore, he cannot be held to answer for any of his crimes without being taken before a Grand Jury. To this date (and to the best of my knowledge), he has yet to be indicted by a Grand Jury.
The other portion of the Bill of Rights that the Fourth Circuit Court apparently felt it was okay to ignore was the Sixth Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
To me, this is the biggest place where the Fourth Circuit has lost its collective mind. Jose Padilla has been held by the Federal Government for over three years now. He has not been brought to trial in any way, shape, or form, he has had, at best, limited access to his lawyer, and he’s currently being held on the east coast of the US when the crimes he committed (if any) would have taken place in Chicago or the surrounding area. The Departments of Justice and Defense, however, seem to feel that it’s perfectly acceptable to hold him as if he were a prisoner of war and completely ignore his rights under the Constitution.
I understand that we are in a state of War (though, I don’t recall the Senate actually declaring war—something that would be hard to do against a terrorist organization rather than another state). That does not give the Justice Department and the Department of Defense the right and ability to simply ignore the Constitution when they so desire. The fact that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has turned a blind eye and said that it was okay for them to do this is simply unconscionable. My only hope is that when this case reaches the Supreme Court (and I’m quite certain that it will) the SCOTUS will fully enforce Padilla’s Rights under the Constitution. No matter what I may think of him, his plans, or his actions, the fact remains that he is a citizen of the United States and entitled to all the Rights that entails.
© Clint Hauser, 2005