Optional Rights: Kafka's World

“The US government has the power to detain a man being held as an enemy combatant without charges, a federal appeals court has ruled. The court overturned an earlier ruling that Jose Padilla, accused of planning an attack with a "dirty bomb", should either be charged or freed.” Amendment V : 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; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Amendment VI: 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 defence.

If Jose Padilla is a terrorist, then he must stand trial. Why? For the two simple facts: 1^st like it or not he is a US citizen, and with that citizenry he is afforded certain alienable rights. 2^nd he was captured in the US, not on some foreign soil or war torn country actively fighting against the US. This is not a defence of Padilla it is a preemptive defence. My motives are completely selfish in this situation. I do not want to wake up one day and have two men standing at my bed repeating that “I must come with them” ala K from The Trial.

Padilla is a trial balloon for this secretive and manipulative administration. The balloon worked and many more enemy combatants, defined by the state will see their rights vanish. This is not conspiracy theory or paranoid delusions; it is now a historical fact. The US government has the right to imprison, its own citizens if they find it reasonable and effective to label them enemy combatants in a war without end. To remedy this situation, charge Padilla and have a trial. Maybe if he was found with marijuana or meth then he would be rushed to trial and the facts could be brought to bear. However, this is not the case, he is a suspected terrorist and with that all the trappings of vague realities and ill-defined evidence. Once more, if he is suspected of being guilty then PUT HIM ON TRIAL. Close the hearings or keep the media at arms length but the government must protect the rights of its citizens.