Jose Padilla Still Not Charged

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Fifth Amendment.

Jose Padilla is a Brooklyn-born American citizen. He has been held without charge since May 8, 2002. Originallly, Padilla was held as a material witness for the September 11th attacks. Then the Bush administration accused him of plotting a dirty bomb attack. Padilla's 2005 indictment makes no mention of the dirty bomb accusations. Padilla is currently being accused of aiding terrorists. He has still not been charged.

In Rumsfeld v. Padilla, the Supreme Court ruled that the brief for habeas corpus was improperly filed against Donald Rumsfeld. The court stated that brig commander Melanie Marr should have been addressed in the brief. The Supreme Court told attorney Donna Newman to go after a lackey; instead of the man who decided to imprison her client. That is the legal equivalent of blaming the backseat passenger for someone's driving.



Padilla was made to wear sound proof headphones and blackout goggles. As well as shackle to go to the infirmary.

The New York Times describes Padilla's current living conditions.

In the brig, Mr. Padilla was denied access to counsel for 21 months. Andrew Patel, one of his lawyers, said his isolation was not only severe but compounded by material and sensory deprivations. In an affidavit filed Friday, he alleged that Mr. Padilla was held alone in a 10-cell wing of the brig; that he had little human contact other than with his interrogators; that his cell was electronically monitored and his meals were passed to him through a slot in the door; that windows were blackened, and there was no clock or calendar; and that he slept on a steel platform after a foam mattress was taken from him, along with his copy of the Koran, “as part of an interrogation plan.”

Mr. Padilla’s situation, as an American declared an enemy combatant and held without charges by his own government, was extraordinary and the conditions of his detention appear to have been unprecedented in the military justice system.

Philip D. Cave, a former judge advocate general for the Navy and now a lawyer specializing in military law, said, “There’s nothing comparable in terms of severity of confinement, in terms of how Padilla was held, especially considering that this was pretrial confinement.”

Padilla has been held under these conditions for four years and the Bush administration still hasn't figured out what to charge him with. The article reports that there has "not one citation, not one act of disobedience." The only logical reason for using such harsh measures on Padillas is that they want to cruelly break him. If they couldn't get nothing out of him by now then they never will. He is described as being a "piece of furniture." He has no exercise, reading material or social interaction. Padilla is now a walking vegetable.

There is another strong possibility - the administration hasn't charged Padilla because they have nothing on him. They were paranoid of an American traveling in the Middle East and detained him. Now they are scared to death of going to court and the public finding out how badly they screwed up.