Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Tuesday, October 8
Jose Padilla has been detained by the military for the past 18 months without charge, access to counsel, or any judicial forum in which to challenge the allegations against him. He had just gotten off a civilian airliner in Chicago, was wearing civilian clothing, and was unarmed. Yet he was labeled an "enemy combatant," which means you may be held without any legal process whatsoever until the administration sees fit. The court last Thursday ruled 2-1 that the government did not have the right to treat him as an enemy combatant and ordered him transferred to civilian custody within 30 days or released.