ABCNEWS.com : Appeals Court Says Bush Can’t Hold U.S. Citizen

The president of the United States does not have the power to detain an American citizen seized on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday, in a serious setback to the Bush administration’s war on terror.

CNN.com – Court: President cannot detain U.S. citizen as enemy combatant – Dec. 18, 2003

In a 65-page decision, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that the U.S. government must release Jose Padilla from military custody within 30 days.

“The government can transfer Padilla to appropriate civilian authorities who can bring criminal charges against him,” the order said.

Padilla has been held in a South Carolina naval brig for the past year and a half.

We can expect the Radical Right to come out against “judicial activists” even as they continue to stack the court with like-minded jurists. The courts are our last hope — a hope that will fade under a second Bush term. mjh

Less than 2 hours later, this appeared:

U.S. to Seek Stay of Court Ruling on Padilla
Thu December 18, 2003 02:38 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration said on Thursday it will seek a stay of a court ruling ordering the release of a U.S. citizen who is being held by the military as an “enemy combatant.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan called the court’s decision “troubling and flawed.”