Look Mom, The Constitution Works!

For years the Bush administration has been arguing for special powers to lock up enemy combatants in the War on Terror. Part of their argument had been that US courts are not setup to handle these kinds of cases, so they setup kangaroo courts. This was what happened in the Padilla case, a US citizen who was arrested on US soil and classified as an enemy combatant. It was one thing to deny rights to citizen of another country captured overseas, but as a US citizen is presumed to have some rights Cheney, I mean Bush, didn't think so. So, after getting bitch-slapped by the Supreme Court (and dropping some of the more outlandish charges), Mr. Padilla (and two others) got their day in court. And they were found guilty.

The Feds have had pretty rotten luck in these federal cases against supposed terrorists. The evidence has been flimsy, bordering on entrapment, so juries haven't been buying it. The Government would argue that they couldn't use all of their good evidence since doing so would give up state secrets. So, we should just trust that they have the goods on these people and let them rot in some gulag. Riiiiiiight.

However, Padilla changes all of this. Even without the "dirty bomb" charge, he was convicted in open court. Hm....funny how when the government has good evidence, people who seek to harm us can be convicted in open court. Perhaps this will open the way for others who are stuck in Gitmo, or who knows where else, to have their day in court. The Padilla case shows that the odds aren't stacked against the government, they just have to get off their asses and prove their case. I don't think that's too much to ask.