JC
EOG Veteran
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration can indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen it determines to be an enemy combatant in the war on terrorism, a federal appeals court ruled.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled against Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen and a Muslim convert. The administration said he took up arms against the U.S. in Afghanistan and was recruited by al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in the U.S. The president has the authority to detain such a person, the appeals court said, reversing a lower court's order.
``We conclude that the president does possess such authority pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution enacted by Congress in the wake of the attacks on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001,'' the three-judge panel said in an order posted on its Web site today.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled against Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen and a Muslim convert. The administration said he took up arms against the U.S. in Afghanistan and was recruited by al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in the U.S. The president has the authority to detain such a person, the appeals court said, reversing a lower court's order.
``We conclude that the president does possess such authority pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution enacted by Congress in the wake of the attacks on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001,'' the three-judge panel said in an order posted on its Web site today.