Saturday, December 31, 2005

Attorneys for "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla yesterday opposed his immediate transfer out of military custody and asked the Supreme Court to consider the matter next month.

The Justice Department had urged the court to let prosecutors take custody of Padilla and bring him before a federal judge in Miami, where he is facing terrorism charges. Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago in 2002, was initially accused of plotting to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb" and was held for more than three years by the military before being indicted last month in Miami.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit refused last week to allow prosecutors to take custody of Padilla from the military and rebuked the Bush administration for its handling of the high-profile case. Prosecutors on Wednesday appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, which is already considering whether to take up the merits of Padilla's detention by the military.

-- Jerry Markon