Judge Tosses One Charge Against Padilla

Well, this is interesting. From The Wasington Post:

MIAMI -- A federal judge on Monday threw out one count in the terror indictment against alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla and his co-defendants, concluding that it repeated other charges in the same indictment.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke leaves intact two other terror-related counts against Padilla and the others alleging a conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic extremist causes worldwide.

The count that was dropped charged a conspiracy to "murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country."

Cooke ruled that charge was unnecessary because the alleged illegal acts were already covered by the other terror-related counts in the indictment. Prosecuting all three charges, she said, would violate the Constitution's ban against double jeopardy, or prosecution of the same charges twice.

Well, this is another black eye for the Bush administration. Padilla was arrested and held, without being charged, for three years as the Bush administration attempted to declare this American-born citizen an "enemy combatant." According to CNN:

Padilla was arrested in May 2002 returning from overseas at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. He initially was detained as a material witness in the investigation of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

President Bush designated him an enemy combatant the following month and turned him over to the military.

Padilla, who the government alleges has al Qaeda ties, was added to the South Florida indictment in November. Two co-defendants -- Adham Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi -- also have pleaded not guilty.

A fourth defendant, Mohamed Hesham Yousef, is in custody in Egypt. The whereabouts of a fifth defendant, Kassem Daher, is not known.

The indictment alleges the men belonged to a North American terrorist support cell and intended to carry out jihad, or holy war, in foreign countries.

Padilla was originally accused of -- but never charged with -- being a potential "dirty bomber," plotting to detonate a crude radioactive device in the United States, and later scheming to blow up apartment buildings using natural gas.

The issue here is that the Bush administration attempted to circumvent Padilla's legal rights as an American citizen--first by labeling him as an "enemy combatant," and then locking Padilla up and throwing away the key, thus declaring that all enemy combatants had no legal rights. If anything, Padilla was a test case to see if the Bush administration could throw American citizens into jail without due process. And so far, the Bush administration has lost on this case. That is not to say that Padilla should go free, but rather that Padilla should go through the criminal justice system as all other defendants. Padilla has every right to access of legal counsel, the right to cross-examine witnesses, the right to hear and review the evidence supporting the charges against him. He should have the right to a trial by jury. And if he is found guilty, then he should be punished--otherwise he should be freed. That is the greatest power of our criminal justice system--the ability to provide a fair and impartial hearing and judgment against those individuals charged with committing crimes.