Compare And Contrast

The special counsel today, as you are aware, announced the indictment of former White House official Scooter Libby. The legal proceedings in this matter will continue for some time, with various pre-trial matters and then possibly a trial. In our system of law, every defendant is entitled to a presumption of innocence; every defendant is entitled to due process and a fair trial. -- Scottie McClellan

[Padilla's] lawyers want the Supreme Court to rule that the Bush White House has overstepped its legal authority by holding "without charge an American citizen arrested on American soil" during the war on terror that is "indeterminate in scope and time".

But the government, which won a major ruling in the case last month when the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Padilla could be held without trial, said the president has the authority in wartime to identify [sic] enemy combatants and hold them indefinitely. Prosecutors further warn that granting Padilla a trial and risking his eventual release from custody would allow him to again [sic] take up arms against this country.

When Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in May 2002, authorities said he was returning from Central Asia to scope out targets for a "dirty bomb" attack using chemical weapons. He eventually was taken to a Navy brig in South Carolina, where he remains.

But officials have since backed off the "dirty bomb" scenario and instead focused on allegations that he fought against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and is an enemy combatant dangerous to this country. [Emphases added.]

Posted by Eddie Tews at October 28, 2005 07:35 PM