Friday, December 19, 2003
I winced when I heard that Judge Wesley dissented in the Padilla case-- I thought, "Maybe he's a crypto-fascist Bush appointee after all, notwithstanding the fact that he's from New York." It appears that his decision was a bit more nuanced than that, however, and more in line with the sort of moderate Rockefeller Republicanism that was characteristic of his time on the Empire State's highest court.
"Wesley said President Bush's authority to detain Padilla clearly fell with the Joint Resolution passed by Congress after Sept. 11, 2001, and citing Quirin, he said the president's authority to "detain an enemy combatant in wartime is undiminished by the individual's U.S. citizenship."
But Wesley was also troubled by what he said was the "real weakness" in the government's appeal: the contention that "Mr. Padilla can be held incommunicado for 18 months with no serious opportunity to put the government to its proof by an appropriate standard."
And he addressed the government's concerns about the interrogation of Padilla and his ability to communicate with al-Qaida, saying he agreed with Judge Mukasey that access to counsel was critical.
"While those concerns may be valid, they cannot withstand the force of another clause of the Constitution on which all of us could surely agree," Judge Wesley said. "No one has suspended the Great Writ."
"Wesley said President Bush's authority to detain Padilla clearly fell with the Joint Resolution passed by Congress after Sept. 11, 2001, and citing Quirin, he said the president's authority to "detain an enemy combatant in wartime is undiminished by the individual's U.S. citizenship."
But Wesley was also troubled by what he said was the "real weakness" in the government's appeal: the contention that "Mr. Padilla can be held incommunicado for 18 months with no serious opportunity to put the government to its proof by an appropriate standard."
And he addressed the government's concerns about the interrogation of Padilla and his ability to communicate with al-Qaida, saying he agreed with Judge Mukasey that access to counsel was critical.
"While those concerns may be valid, they cannot withstand the force of another clause of the Constitution on which all of us could surely agree," Judge Wesley said. "No one has suspended the Great Writ."
// posted by Bill @ 10:39 AM 
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