Annie
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- Nov 22, 2003
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An appelate judge has ruled 'charge or set free.'
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...ap/20050228/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/enemy_combatant
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...ap/20050228/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/enemy_combatant
White House Must Charge or Free Suspect
29 minutes ago Top Stories - AP
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Monday to either charge terrorism suspect Jose Padilla with a crime or release him after more than 2 1/2 years in custody.
U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd in Spartanburg, S.C., said the government can not hold Padilla indefinitely as an "enemy combatant," a designation President Bush (news - web sites) gave him in 2002.
"The court finds that the president has no power, neither express nor implied, neither constitutional nor statutory, to hold petitioner as an enemy combatant," Floyd wrote in a 23-page opinion that was a stern rebuke to the government. He gave the administration 45 days to take action.
"We think that this is a wonderful decision," said Padilla's attorney, Andy Patel, as Padilla waited on another line. "It is one of those moments that all Americans should be proud of."