4th Circuit Stiff-Arms Bush Justice

AP reports: “In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody. The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to vacate a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain 'enemy combatants' indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil. The decision, written by Judge J. Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set to convince a grand jury in Florida to indict him last month.”

Note: If the 4th Circuit won’t OK the Bush Justice Department’s sneaky moves, it suggests there’s no hope in any court for the argument behind those moves. The 4th, which sits here in Richmond, is considered by many observers to be the most conservative in the game. At least two of its members were supposedly on Bush’s most recent short list for appointment to the Supreme Court, one of which is that same Judge J. Michael Luttig.

OK. Given this new ruling, how long will it be before DeeCee's utmost elephantine Dick since Nixon, Vice President Cheney, blasts Luttig as a liberal activist judge?

Here's more on Judge Luttig's strong reaction to the government's position on the Padilla case: “Luttig said the administration has risked its ‘credibility before the courts’ by appearing to try to keep the Supreme Court from reviewing the extent of the president's power to hold enemy combatants without charges.” Click here to read the whole story.